“She went to the fence and sat there, watching the gold clouds fall topieces, and go in immense, rose-coloured ruin towards the darkness. Goldflamed to scarlet, like pain in its intense brightness. Then the scarletsank to rose, and rose to crimson, and quickly the passion went out ofthe sky. All the world was dark grey. Paul scrambled quickly down withhis basket, tearing his shirt-sleeve as he did so.”

“And the marvellous rose became crimson, like the rose of the eastern sky. Crimson was the girdle of petals, and crimson as a ruby was the heart”

“It was very still. The tree was tall and straggling. It had thrown its briers over a hawthorn-bush, and its long streamers trailed thick, right down to the grass, splashing the darkness everywhere with great spilt stars, pure white. In bosses of ivory and in large splashed stars the roses gleamed on the darkness of foliage and stems and grass. Paul and Miriam stood close together, silent, and watched. Point after point the steady roses shone out to them, seeming to kindle something in their souls. The dusk came like smoke around, and still did not put out the roses.”

“My dream went all the way back to the beginning. The rain rose into the clouds, and the animals descended the ramp.”

“There is darkness in light, there is pain in joy, and there are thorns on the rose.”

“The ocean rose up around me, hiding that low, dark patch from my eyes. The daylight, the trailing glory of the sun, went streaming out of the sky, was drawn aside like some luminous curtain, and at last I looked into the blue gulf of immensity which the sunshine hides, and saw the floating hosts of stars. The sea was silent, the sky was silent. I was alone with the night and silence.”