Scottish Poetry Selection
- Roses

Original Manuscript of Roses by Walter Wingate
Original manuscript of "Roses" by Walter Wingate, illustrated by the author.



Walter Wingate's love of the countryside comes through in this poem about the wild roses which grow in the hedgerows. But there is sadness also in the ephemeral nature of the blooms - and the remembered loss of a girl from long ago.


Roses

A sea of broom was on the brae,
A heaven of speedwell lit the way;
But ever as I passed along
Of roses only was my song -
          Roses, roses, roses!

They spread their petals, pink and white
Full stretch to feast upon the light;
They pushed each other on the spray
Like children mad with holiday -
          Roses, roses, roses!

But as when summer noon is high
A fearful cloud bedims the sky,
A sudden memory of pain
Arises from the bright refrain -
          Roses, roses, roses!

I watch a figure to and fro
'Mong summer roses long ago,
Herself a rose as blythe as they -
Alas! how soon they pass away -
          Roses, roses, roses!

Return to the Index of Scottish Poetry.



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