| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900. |
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| 601. Rose and Root |
| | | A Fable of Two Lives |
| | | By John James Piatt |
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| THE ROSE aloft in sunny air, | |
| Beloved alike by bird and bee, | |
| Takes for the dark Root little care | |
| That toils below it ceaselessly. | |
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| I put my question to the flower: | 5 |
| “Pride of the Summer, garden queen, | |
| Why livest thou thy little hour?” | |
| And the Rose answered, “I am seen.” | |
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| I put my question to the Root. | |
| “I mine the earth content,” it said, | 10 |
| “A hidden miner underfoot: | |
| I know a Rose is overhead.” | |
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