Text+of+The+Rose

The text of //The Rose: or Affection's Gift for 1847// consists of a selection of 35 poems and short stories (alternating between the two), with topics that vary from a woman's adventures in Africa to the death of a parent. To be sure, editor Emily Marshall references //The Rose//'s exceptional degree of variety in the preface when she states that //The Rose//, **"exhibit[s] an unusual degree of novelty and variety in the subjects, which frequently travel far out of the beaten track so long occupied by works of this class."** From this quote, it is possible to conclude that ever since the first American literary annual was published a little over 20 years before in 1826, the style and manner of prose found in gift books has become rather repetitive and stagnant. Clearly, from the point of view of editor Emily Marshall, //The Rose// seeks to rectify this problem through its choice of a variety of new, entertaining and morally uplifting fiction. However, regardless of differences in subject matter from that of previous gift books, the text of //The Rose// does have at least one aspect in common with its predecessors; **"The moral influence which poetry and fiction always exert, when produced by real genius, will be recognized as one of the chief recommendations which the tales and poetry, now offered to the public, possess." **              **A GLIMPSE INSIDE //THE ROSE//'S TEXT: Excerpts from a selection of its stories and poems...** **"if the balance were fairly adjusted, an enormous preponderance of wrong must, I fear, be placed to the account of the less excusable party- the enlightened and the powerful."** -from "Makanna, or The Wrongs of Amakosa" by Thomas Pringle **"His good-humored fat face was decorated with his national insignia, namely, his side-locks and whiskers braided so as to form long stiff horns, and tipped with beads, although projecting very far beyond his nose."** **"...assured me he was most happy to see me, and that I should find him a perfect Englishman, for "he ate with a knife and fork, and was all the same as English"."** **"...but when it came to drinking he resumed his native habits..."** -from "A Visit to Empoöngwa; or A Peep into Negroland" by Mrs. Lee **"His heart adored an only child,** **Young as the morning flower,** **Whose mother faded ere she smiled-** **The parent of an hour"** -from "Rachel: An American Story" by Matthew Bridges **"Write to the young and fair** **That life is but a dream-"** -from "To a Pen" by C.         **"The Hindoo widow, in affection strong,** **Dies by her lord, and keeps her faith unbroken:-** **Thus perish all which to those wrecks belong,** **The living memory- with the lifeless token"** -from "On Burning Etc."
 * //The Rose: or Affection's Gift for 1847 //** **//﻿ //**  **TEXT: POETRY AND PROSE FROM THE MID 1800's: **