Classic Poem

The Red Rose once was white
As any flake of snow can be;
The sum of her delight
Was knowledge of her purity —
As ev'ry Bee and nodding Poppy knows.
But, in a luckless hour,
There bloomed outside the garden wall
A common wildwood flow'r,
So wondrous fair and sweet and tall,
That envy flushed the white face of the Rose!

The Red Rose once was white
As any flake of snow can be;
The sum of her delight
Was knowledge of her purity —
As ev'ry Bee and nodding Poppy knows.
But, in a luckless hour,
There bloomed outside the garden wall
A common wildwood flow'r,
So wondrous fair and sweet and tall,
That envy flushed the white face of the Rose!