Red Roses

"I love the red roses," said Leslie. "Anne likes the pink ones best, and

Gilbert likes the white. But I want the crimson ones. They satisfy some

craving in me as no other flower does."

"These roses are very late -- they bloom after all the others have gone

-- and they hold all the warmth and soul of the summer come to fruition,"

said Owen, plucking some of the glowing, half-opened buds. "The rose

is the flower of love -- the world has acclaimed it so for centuries. The

pink roses are love hopeful and expectant -- the white roses are love dead

or forsaken -- but the red roses -- ah, Leslie, what are the red roses?"

"Love triumphant," said Leslie in a low voice. 



-- excerpt from L. M. Montgomery's 'Anne's House of Dreams'
..I had a conversation with a florist about this passage last week.
How beautiful it is that the language of flowers is still
used to communicate emotion today.

...
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