Chapter XXXIX

The Rose is aye Love's dearest, sweetest Sign;
To my Friend's Heart, I give this Rose of mine.
Clear Thought dies out in Love's absorbed Delight,
As Weeds grow pale before the Rose and pine.
The Rose hides in her Heart the piercing Thorn,
For deepest hidden Pains with Love entwine.
The Rose is Beauty perfected in One,
Her Charms all glowing, Heaven and Earth outshine.
The full blown Rose in Splendour dims the Sun;
Each quivering Leaflet shows a Moon's design.
The Sun's sphered Light is moulded in her Form,
While bright-eyed Stars keep watch around her Shrine.
O Sun, the Rose that made the Moon to grow,
To my Heart's Friend give Love and Joy divine!

The Friend Supreme