"The peony
Made him measure it
With his fan"
-  Issa

"made to measure it
with a fan...
the peony"
-  Issa

"The way in which the peony is considered as the active source of the measuring of itself is not merely good psychology, but shows us how Issa looks upon the plant world and upon himself.  Compared to that of the ordinary man, human beings and plants are much closer together in the thought-feeling world of Issa.  The flower stands there in its color and glory.  It does not bloom to be seen, nor does it wish to blush unseen.  It is not dependent upon man, but neither is it independent of him.  Its purposeless purpose is fulfilled in its blooming in solitude and silence, yet when no one is gazing upon it, it has no shape or color or fragrance.  The flower needs the mind, and the mind needs the flower for its fulfillment.  Issa emphasizes the power and activity of the peony not only because we live in an egocentric, homocentric world, valueless and unpoetical, but also because he wishes to bring out the special nature of the peony, its power and magnificence, its lofty splendor.  Is this splendor in the flower?  Does Issa cause the flower to be measured, or does the flower cause Issa to measure it?" 
-  R. H. Blyth, Haiku, Volume 3, Summer-Autumn 

"Through primrose tufts,
in that sweet bower,
The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;
And 'tis my faith that every flower
Enjoys the air it breathes."
-  William Wordsworth

"Every rose is an autograph from the hand of God on his world about us.  He has inscribed his thoughts in these marvelous hieroglyphics which sense and science have, these many thousand years, been seeking to understand."
-  Theodore Parker

"Won't you come into my garden?  I would like my roses to see you."
-  Richard Sheridan

"Life is like a rose . . . More exquisite and precious, when shared with others."
-  Jane Oechsle Lauer  

"The Rose is gowned in petaled grace and lovely beyond telling;
She always lifts a friendly face, regardless of her dwelling.
Her golden silence can express to us, no matter where, joy shared;
Give solace in distress from those who fondly care. 
The Rose has ways of saying things we much delight to hear;
without a spoken word, she brings and keeps our loved ones near."
-  Laura S. Beck

"God gave us our memories so that we might have roses in December."
-  James Matthew Barrie, (1860-1937)

"Tis better to buy a small bouquet
And give to your friend this very day,
Than a bushel of roses white and red
To lay on his coffin after he’s dead."
-   Irish Proverbs  

"You love the roses - so do I.  I wish
The sky would rain down roses, as they rain
From off the shaken bush.  Why will it not?
Then all the valley would be pink and white
And soft to tread on.  They would fall as light
As feathers, smelling sweet; and it would be
Like sleeping and like waking, all at once!" 
-  George Eliot, Roses 

"Observe this dew-drenched rose of Tyrian gardens
A rose today.  But you will ask in vain
Tomorrow what it is; and yesterday
It was the dust, the sunshine, and the rains."
-  Christina Rosetti   

"The rose is a rose,
And was always a rose,
But the theory now goes
That the apple's a rose,
And the pear is, and so's
The plum, I suppose,
The dear only knows
What will next prove a rose,
You, of course, are a rose -
But were always a rose."
-  Robert Frost, 1875-1963 

"The roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God today.  There is no time to them.  There is simply the rose.  It is perfect in every moment of its existence."
-  Ralph Waldo Emerson