There's a fragrant, peachy-yellow rose called 'poetry in motion' – proof (if needed) of poetry's love affair with roses, this most sumptuous of flowers.

Our gorgeous mini-anthology contains all manner of roses. You’ll find a climbing rose that longs for another life, a meditation on the simple pleasure of tending roses and helping them to grow, together with a lyrical paean to the essence of the flower itself in all its scented, luscious-petalled glory:

"Blossom, my darling, blossom, be a rose

Of roses unchidden and purposeless; a rose

For rosiness only, without an ulterior motive..."

- from 'Rose of all the World' by DH Lawrence

This selection of rose poems makes a beautiful little garden that will offer delight in every season of the year.

Poems by Alistair Te Ariki Campbell, David Constantine, Emily Dickinson, Lucy Eddy, DH Lawrence, Stanley Plumly, Christina Rossetti, Sara Teasdale, Eloise Unerman and Jean Valentine.

Cover illustration by Jane Walker.