Grocott & Ward, comps. Grocott’s Familiar Quotations, 6th ed. 189-?.
Roses
The rills of pleasure never run sincere,
(Earth has no unpolluted spring;)
From the curs’d soil some dang’rous taint they bear;
So roses grow on thorns, and honey wears a sting.
Dr. Watts.—Lyric Poems, Earth and Heaven, Line 9.
Life has its bliss for these when past its bloom,
As wither’d roses yield a late perfume.
Shenstone.—The Judgment of Hercules, Line 426. Dr. Watts.—The Rose, Verse 2.