The speaker goes out to gather the loveliest roses she can find—white, pink, and red—to weave a gift for Christ, her King. But when she places the bouquet at His feet, she realizes He already carries blossoms far more beautiful: the scarlet wounds on His hands and feet, and the pink bloom from His pierced side that heals the world. His crown of thorns, too, is transformed in her eyes into a small wreath of roses around His head. This turns a simple act of devotion into an intimate vision of the Crucifixion, where suffering is not erased but changed into something tender and fragrant. The mood is reverent and quietly awestruck, moving from a childlike offering to a deeper understanding of sacrifice. By the end, Christ is the Rose of Sharon, the speaker His gardener, and she trusts that after death she will drink His sweetness forever in heaven.
Roses — Summary
(For Katherine Bregy)
I went to gather roses and twine them in a ring, For I would make a posy, a posy for the King. I got an hundred roses, the loveliest there be, From the white rose vine and the pink rose bush and from the red rose tree. But when I took my posy and laid it at His feet I found He had His roses a million times more sweet. There was a scarlet blossom upon each foot and hand, And a great pink rose bloomed from His side for the healing of the land. Now of this fair and awful King there is this marvel told, That He wears a crown of linked thorns instead of one of gold. Where there are thorns are roses, and I saw a line of red, A little wreath of roses around His radiant head. A red rose is His Sacred Heart, a white rose is His face, And His breath has turned the barren world to a rich and flowery place. He is the Rose of Sharon, His gardener am I, And I shall drink His fragrance in Heaven when I die.