John Boyle O'Reilly and His White Rose with a Flush on its Petal Tips























John Boyle O'Reilly was having a dilemma which rose to choose, much like those Don Juans and Cassanovas wishing of having two or more hearts to have. But O'Reilley's dilemma is not about having extras. He was trying to grasp an idea that was regarded as almost outlandish in his time. He may have heard of an Austrian (some says he's of a German-Czech race) Augustinian Friar experimenting on plant hybridization in some monastery in Brunn. However he may have arrived at the idea, he was subtle enough to convey a lover's passion tempered by pure love in his poem, A White Rose.

A White Rose
The red rose whispers of passion
And the white rose breathes of love,
O, the red rose is a falcon,
And the white rose is a dove.
But I send you a cream-white rosebud
With a flush on its petal tips,
For the love that is purest and sweetest
Has a kiss of desire on the lips.

Today's rose lovers enjoy not only the luxury of thought but are endowed with having on their gardens those fancy roses of various colors. They prided themselves of collecting types and varieties of them. They know their names by heart. But they are oblivious as to who engineered their possibilities.

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