the rose, in ceremonies and festivals, and in the adornment of burial-places.
among the ancients, the rose was conspicuous in all the sacred ceremonies, and in public and private fêtes. the greeks and the romans surrounded the statues of venus, of hebe, and of flora, with garlands of roses. they were lavish of these flowers at the festivals of flora; in those of juno, at argos, the statue of the olympian queen was crowned with lilies and roses. in the festivals of hymen, at athens, the youth of both sexes, crowned with roses and adorned with flowers, mingled in dances which were intended to represent the innocence of primeval times. at rome, in the public rejoicings, they sometimes strewed the streets with roses and other flowers. it is thus that lucretius gives a description of the manner in which were celebrated the festivals of cybele.[3]
to scatter flowers on the passage of the funeral procession of a private citizen was an honor not common at rome. pliny informs us, however, that a scipio, belonging to the illustrious family of that name, who while he was tribune, fulfilled his duties to the satisfaction of the people, dying without leaving sufficient to pay his funeral expenses, the people voluntarily contributed to pay them, and on the appearance of the body, cast flowers upon its passage.
[pg 168]
at bai?, when fêtes were given upon the water, the whole surface of the lake of lucina appeared covered with roses.
the custom of encircling the head, of surrounding the neck, and also the breast, with crowns and garlands of roses, on different occasions, and particularly during the last days of a gay festival, when, after the solid dishes, they passed to the dessert and the rare wines, is well known by the odes of anacreon, and from the writings of several of the ancient poets.
the voluptuous horace, when he abandoned himself to pleasures, was always supplied with roses. in congratulating one of his friends on his safe return from spain, he recommended that these flowers should not be wanting at the festival. on another occasion, he told his favorite servant that he cordially disliked the pompous displays of the persians, and escaped them by searching in what place the late rose was found. drawing a picture of luxurious ease for his friend hirpinus, he speaks of “lying under the shade of a lofty plane or pine tree, perfuming our spotless hair with assyrian spikenard, and crowning ourselves with roses.” we can very well judge how general had become the custom of making crowns of roses, from the number of times which it is mentioned in pliny, and the frequency with which martial speaks of it in his epigrams. the latter author also informs us, that in the very height of roman luxury and revealing, the most favorable time for soliciting and obtaining a favor was when the patron was entirely given up to the pleasures of the table and of roses.[4]
whatever doubt may exist of the use of crowns of roses, as objects of luxury, it is well authenticated, that[pg 169] among medical men of antiquity, endeavors were made to determine what kinds of flowers were suitable to place in crowns without detriment to health; and according to the report made on this subject, the parsley, the ivy, the myrtle, and the rose, possessed peculiar virtues for dissipating the fumes of the wine. according to athen?us, a crown of roses possessed not only the property of alleviating pain in the head, but had a very refreshing effect.
pliny mentions two greek physicians—mnesitheus and callimachus,—who wrote on this subject.
the custom of crowning with roses had passed from the greeks to the romans, and it also existed among the hebrews, who had probably borrowed it from some of the neighboring nations, either from the egyptians, in the midst of whom they had spent many years, or from the babylonians, with whom they had in the captivity much connection. the practice of this custom among the israelites is attested by the previously quoted passage, in the apocryphal “wisdom of solomon.”
at rome it was not only at the religious festivals that they crowned themselves with roses and other flowers, but it was the custom to wear these crowns during public and private fêtes; they were strictly forbidden at some other times, and above all on certain public occasions, where to appear with such an ornament would pass for an insult to a public calamity. pliny informs us, that during the second punic war, which lasted sixteen years, a banker named lucius fulvius, for looking from his gallery on the forum, and wearing a crown of roses on his head, was, by order of the senate, sent to prison, from which he was not liberated until the end of the war.
this anecdote, moreover, proves that crowns of roses were in fashion at rome at an early period, and before licentiousness and luxury had yet made many inroads upon the national character.
it may readily be supposed, that at rome, under the[pg 170] emperors, the use of crowns of flowers was, like every other species of luxury at that time, constantly on the increase. at first they wore the crowns interwoven with leaves of flowers, then they wore them composed partly of roses, and finally they were not satisfied unless they consisted of these flowers only.
martial, as we have already mentioned, speaks often of his crowns of roses. the crown sent by this poet to his friend sabinus was composed entirely of these flowers, and he was desirous that they should be considered the production of his own gardens.
from the poverty of turkish history, little is known of the early use of the rose among them. we have, however, some account of its use among the mohammedan persians.
although wine was forbidden by the laws of mahomet, the persians frequently made use of it; and in the time of tavernier and of chardin, they frequently drank it to excess. one of their kings, soliman iii., was intoxicated almost every day; and it was the custom then in persia, to serve the wine in crystal decanters, which, when the season permitted, they corked with roses.
the most interesting purpose to which roses were devoted was the adornment of tombs and burial-places. the greeks employed generally for this object, the myrtle and the amaranth; but the romans gave the preference to the lily, the saffron-plant, and, above all, the rose.
the ancients were careful to renew the plants which were placed around the sepulchral urn, in order that it might be surrounded by a continual spring. these flowers were regarded as sacred, and as a relic of the deceased.
the romans considered this pious care so agreeable to the spirits of the departed, that wealthy citizens bequeathed by will entire gardens, to be reserved for furnishing their tombs with flowers. they also often ordered that their heirs, or those to whom they left a legacy for the[pg 171] care of their ashes, should meet together every year, on the anniversary of their death, and dine near their tomb, scattering roses about the place. this custom is attested by several stories of ancient roman tombs. one with an ancient inscription was found at ravenna, and others in some other parts of italy.
d’orbessan, in his “essai sur les roses,” mentions having seen, at torcello, a city about five miles from venice, an inscription of this kind, mentioning a donation made by an emancipated slave to the assembly of the centum, consisting of gardens and a building to be employed in celebrating his obsequies and those of his master. it requested that roses should not be spared, and that food should be then distributed in abundance. generally, the donation made on condition of covering the funeral monument with roses was transferred to another, if that condition was not fulfilled. sometimes the most terrible maledictions threatened those who dared to violate these sacred gardens. that which proves how frequent among the romans was this custom of ornamenting tombs with roses is, that those who were not rich enough to make such bequests often directed to be engraved upon the stone which covered their remains a request to the passers-by to scatter roses upon their tomb. some of these stones still exist, with the following inscription: “sparge, precor, rosas supra mea busta, viator.” it was, perhaps, because they compared the short duration of human life to the quick fading existence of the rose, that this flower was devoted to the burial-place of the dead; and there can certainly be chosen no more beautiful emblem of this transitory state of existence. this supposition is somewhat strengthened by the following passage from jerome, one of the early christian fathers:
“the ancients scattered roses over the urns of the deceased, and in their wills ordered that these flowers should adorn their graves, and should be renewed every year. it was also the custom for husbands to[pg 172] cast roses, violets, and lilies, on the urns which enclosed the ashes of their wives. these modest flowers were emblematic signs of their grief. our christians were content to place a rose among the ornaments of their graves, as the image of life.”
in turkey, females that died unmarried had a rose sculptured at the top of their monument.
at the well-known cemetery of père la chaise, which has often excited the ecstasy, admiration, or praise of many travelers, but which in reality exhibits neither elegance, sentiment, nor taste, wreaths of roses and other flowers are frequently seen upon the thickly crowded tombs, either as mementos of affection, or in compliance with a popular custom; while the street leading to the cemetery is filled with shops in which are exposed for sale the wreaths of flowers.
the prevalence of the same custom in denmark is alluded to by shakespeare, in hamlet, in the scene of ophelia’s burial.
the custom still remains also in america and great britain. in wales, when a young girl dies, her female companions bring flowers with them to her funeral, and place them in her coffin. they plant lilies and snow-drops over the graves of children, and wild and cultivated roses over those of adults.
gwillym, a welsh poet, thus speaks of the custom in one of his elegies:—“oh! while the season of flowers and the tender sprays, thick of leaves, remain, i will pluck the roses from the brakes, to be offered to the memory of a child of fairest fame; humbly will i lay them on the grave of ivor.”
evelyn tells us that “the white rose was planted at the grave of a virgin, and her chaplet was tied with white riband, in token of her spotless innocence; though sometimes black ribands were intermingled, to bespeak the grief of the survivors. the red rose was occasionally used in remembrance of such as had been remarkable for[pg 173] their benevolence; but roses in general were appropriated to the graves of lovers.”
drummond, the scotch poet, requested one of his friends to have the following couplet placed over his grave:
“here damon lies, whose songs did sometimes grace the murmuring esk:—may roses shade the place.”
the first christians disapproved of the use of these flowers, either at their festivals or as ornaments for their tombs, on account of its connection with the pagan mythology, and the custom thus became extinct. tertullian wrote a book against crowns and garlands. clement of alexandria thought it improper that christians should crown themselves with roses. a little later, however, christians relaxed from this strictness, and the christian poet prudence did not fear to invite his brethren “to cover with violets and with verdure, and to surround with perfumes those bones which the voice of the all-powerful would one day restore to life.”
the roman catholics of this day admit flowers to their churches and ceremonies, and on feast days they adorn the altars with bouquets and garlands. at the most imposing of these solemnities, the day of the “fête-dieu,” rose petals, during the procession, are scattered in the air, and blended with the perfume of censers, directed towards the host; in many of the towns, particularly those in the south of france and of europe, the streets through which the procession passes are scattered throughout with fragrant herbs and flowers of every kind.
since the extinction of paganism in a greater part of the world, the custom of wearing crowns of flowers at festivals has passed entirely away. women only use roses as an ornament for their hair, or employ them in different parts of their toilet. in our own country the toilet of a bride is never considered perfect unless she wears a wreath of roses or other flowers, whose snow-white hue is an emblem of her departing maidenhood. sometimes she is[pg 174] provided only with a bouquet of white roses and camellias, and her bridesmaids wear similar ornaments of nature’s manufacture.
the rose is abundantly used by children in their beautiful celebration of may-day. we well recollect our enjoyment of one of these scenes some years since. we were returning from a ride in the vicinity of charleston, s.c., on the first day of this, the sunniest of the months of spring—a day dedicated not to the spirit of motion, and celebrated not by processions of furniture carts, amid the bustle and noise of a populous city, but dedicated there, at the sunny south, to innocent and joyous festivity, and celebrated amid all the fresh and fragrant luxuriance of southern vegetation, surrounded by the delicate sweetness of the magnolia, the rose, and other flowers, while the mocking-bird, with its sweet and varied note, was the minstrel for the occasion. riding quietly along the road, we were suddenly stopped by a procession which had just dismounted from a number of carriages in a beautiful grove hard by. it consisted mostly of noble-looking boys and beautiful girls, of all ages under fourteen, the latter dressed in white and crowned with wreaths of roses and other flowers. the manly attention of the boys to the fair creatures with whom they walked hand in hand would not have disgraced the gallantry of bayard, or the politeness of chesterfield. as the procession wound slowly from our view, under the shade of the lofty live oak and the rich magnolia, we could not help reflecting how beautiful was this graceful enjoyment of the sunny days of childhood, and how preferable to the mental excitement and precocious training of many of the infant philosophers of this most enlightened nineteenth century.
it is much to be regretted that in circles where fashion reigns supreme, nature is gradually giving way to art, and instead of the fresh and natural beauty of a newly gathered rose, various forms of artificial flowers are found[pg 175] upon the center table, or in the hair of those whose quick discernment and refined taste should lead them to perceive the great inferiority of these artificial toys to the delicate beauty and welcome fragrance of a rose just from its parent plant.
very much additional matter could be inserted respecting the early history of the rose, and its connection with ancient superstitions. sufficient, however, has been given to show the esteem in which the rose was held by the ancient greeks and romans.
