Saturday, May 17, 2014

A Rose By Any Other Name

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"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" is a commonly quoted part of a dialogue in William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet argues that the names of things do not matter, only what things "are".



In Act II, Scene 2 of the play, the line is said by Juliet in reference to Romeo's house, Montague which would imply that his name means nothing and they should be together.
Juliet:
O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
Romeo:
[Aside] Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?
Juliet:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.



The roses in this post are from one of my David Austin roses, "Heritage."  Rose is also the middle name of my daughter, Christina Rose, and my granddaughter, Taylor Rose.  Both are named after my mother in law, Rose, a great baker and gardener and a wonderful grandmother.  It is also the middle name of Princess Margaret Rose, Queen Elizabeth's sister.  I love the name and I think it makes for a beautiful middle name, when appropriate,  don't you?  Tell me, is there a favorite middle name in your family?






And although you can't see it because she wouldn't stay still, that is Coco Rose in her new rose collar. 




All photos Lindaraxa

8 comments:

  1. Your roses are gorgeous. I've heard that roses aren't easy to grow, so congratulations on a job well done. As to middle names, both my husband and one of his brothers go by their middle name and use their first name as an initial. All three boys have family names and my husband's name is the most of unusual of the three. As a kid, it was hard to be given an unfamiliar name.

    Hope you are having a lovely weekend. We experiencing a Blackberry Winter here in the mountains and it's been down in the thirties a couple of nights. Burr, what happened to spring?
    Sam
    Sam

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    1. We were down to 40 Tuesday. I have now had to shift from short sleeve t's to long ones or a cotton sweater. Weird.

      Yes, roses are hard to grow. As a matter of fact, they are a pain in the neck. But the results...well, you can see. They are adored by every bug on the book. Every year I say, no more but then I see one in the catalogue and Im dead meat. I used to have over 50 rose bushes in Ct. Guess im a real glutton for punishment!

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  2. Nice new look!
    I love roses, they are my favourite. I had a sun garden with David Austin roses in one of my homes, but currently I have only shade in my small city plot. (My middle name is Elizabeth.)

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    1. You like? My daughter and I are experimenting. Finally I got her to help me with the banner. It only took five years....

      One of my favorite roses is Queen Elizabeth. Love the name.

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  3. Such a beautiful DA rose and what a delicate blush color - heaven!. I bet they smell as good as they look. My favorite rose in my garden is a DA rose named Abraham Darby. Not only does it have a lovely heady smell (of grapefruit, would you believe), but the color is amazing - pink and apricot all rolled into one. He is a modern master of old-fashioned looking roses, don't you agree?

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  4. His roses are amazing. I also have 2 Winchester Cathedral up front. White with a great smell tho i dont know of what. Rose i guess! I have his catalogue so I know all of them including AD. Roses here are a pain. I'm already fighting the bugs and the black spot. but I'm a masachist when it comes to the garden!

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    1. Masochist, yup, that sums it up for me too! Roses, as you write, are the most painful of the lot, but we to suffer for beauty, I suppose. You must be doing something right as yours are gorgeous. Well done!

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  5. You praised me too soon. I just came back from removing 5 leaves with black spot. But I will get them if it is the last thing I do! By the end of the summer I will swear off roses AGAIN. and then in the Spring I will fall in love with them all over again.

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