Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
Sub Rosa
By George Lunt (18031885)T
Thee lovely saw, and chose
An emblem of his power;
From out thy perfumed fold
His breath of fragrance rolled,
And his own tint imbued the blushing flower.
Lonely upon the wild
Trembled, bedropt with dew;
He plucked it in its tears,
All sweeter for its fears,
And to the god of silence panting flew.
Take it,—this hour is mine,
The hush, the glow, the shade;
Make thou this matchless flower
Symbol in hall or bower
Of vows and spoken thoughts, but unbetrayed.”
Or, long in silence bound,
To love hearts yielded pride,
Under the rose uphung,
Words that, half whispered, clung
To lips, or uttered, with the moment died.
By Love and Silence breathed,
That old, unbroken spell;
From such sweet fountain flows
The legend of the Rose,
And thus, Sub Rosa means, You must not tell.