Lol, I'll skip the quiz but how fascinating! Thanks, Henry.

This must have been a fun paper to research and write. I wonder if anyone has done a dissertation on the rose in literature. You could focus on English or American or even a particular writer

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying :
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

Then be not coy, but use your time,
And while ye may go marry :
For having lost but once your prime
You may for ever tarry.

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

My love is like a red, red rose
ThatâÂÂs newly sprung in June :
My love is like the melody
ThatâÂÂs sweetly played in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in love am I :
And I will love thee still, my dear,
Till aâ the seas gang dry.

Go, lovely Rose by Edmund Waller

Go, lovely Rose--
Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.

Tell her thatâÂÂs young,
And shuns to have her graces spied,
That hadst thou sprung
In deserts where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.

Small is the worth
Of beauty from the light retired:
Bid her come forth,
Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.

Then die--that she
The common fate of all things rare
May read in thee;
How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!

The Sick Rose by William Blake

O Rose thou art sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

Yes, there is a strong tradition of literary roses that have been studied over and over and over. If we had room, I could give you rose-inspired poems dating back to the Middle Ages, but they are rather long, so perhaps you'll settle for the brief survey above--Herrick 17th century; Burns 19th cent; Waller 17th century; Blake 19th century.

Kate : )

The paper does not address the question of why the rose is so important in human history. Why was the rose selected over other beautiful flowers? Any guesses?

Gerd Krussman's book "Roses", the translation into English is about the most comprehensive out there. Sadly, it's poorly referenced.

But with Google book search, interesting phrases can be sought and that will get to some original sources.

What really was written and what subsequent speakers have thought was written are often two very different things.

An example from a talk I heard, a lovely lady was close to in rapture about Bobbie Burns "My love is like a red, red rose" and she talked about how every time she reads that, she thinks of all the lovely red hybrid teas she grows.

Take a look at when Burns wrote the poem. Then look at the date of the first hybrid tea.

In fact, when was the first truly red rose in commerce in Scotland?

I don't think it matters that there were no hybrid teas when Burns wrote the poem. For me what matters is that the poem evokes a response in us to our own roses, whatever they maybe.

I did the arrangements schedule for our rose show this spring with a literary theme and hunted up a lot of these quotes for it. It was a lot of fun and I found there were many more than I thought there were.

amberrose,

The rose has not actually been that important in world history per se. The rose is important in western and middle eastern cultures, extending maybe to India through the middle eastern, and later British, influences there. The Chinese cultivated roses, but valued the chrysanthemum and lotus much more highly. In an ancient Iranian text, there is a hierarchy of fragrant flowers that includes the musk rose, but not at the top.

The idea that the rose is the best and most important flower probably begins with the ancient Greeks, who associated it with erotic love but also with funerary practices (anointing with rose oil). The Romans took up this cult of the rose and spread it through the western world. In the medieval period, the rose became a symbol of the Virgin Mary and of divine love without losing its erotic associations.

I was expecting michaelg to speak up (unless he was fly fishing). He is one who should write a book on the subject (if he has not already done so).

Do you have a literary background, Michaelg?

Yes, I'm a semi-retired professor of English.

Extra credit reading:

http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1096&context=ur

Here is a link that might be useful: Botany of Desire: Looking at the Rose Plant as a Manmade Tool of Love