Classic and Contemporary Poetry

CONTRAST, by CHARLES HENRY MACKINTOSH Poet's Biography
First Line: A great rose garden, redolent of bloom
Last Line: But that it blooms inside a prison wall.
Subject(s): Flowers; Prisons & Prisoners; Roses

A great rose garden, redolent of bloom,
A dozen roses in the living room,
A sheaf of roses resting on a tomb . . .

And now, a single rose, too wild and small
To wear the regal name of rose at all . . .
But that it blooms inside a prison wall.