The Grave and the Rose

The Grave said to the Rose,
“What of the dews of dawn,
Love’s flower, what end is theirs?”
“And what of spirits flown,
The souls whereon doth close
The tomb’s mouth unawares?”
The Rose said to the Grave.

The Rose said, “In the shade
From the dawn’s tears is made
A perfume faint and strange,
Amber and honey sweet.”
“And all the spirits fleet
Do suffer a sky-change,
More strangely than the dew,
To God’s own angels new,”
The Grave said to the Rose.

—The Grave and the Rose by Victor Hugo

  
  

The roses: Hester Ann Black (Africa Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio), Barbary Hair (Oak Grove Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio), Sarah Gailey (Cheshire Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio), Orminda Benton (with her brother Anton; Cheshire Cemetery, Delaware County, Ohio)