the Rose

Is there any other flower so prized for it's beauty?  No wonder the rose is a favorite as a floral icon on graves.  The Victorians used the rose in it's different colors as a language all it's own. 
This was known as Floriography. 

To express your love, you would gives roses that were red. A yellow rose on the other hand simply conveyed  friendship.  

An eloquent epitaph

In the cemetery, the most common use of the Rose as an icon is to convey beauty.

I really like the personal epitaph on this grave in Brunswick, ME.

"I love roses, I love pretty things." -Dorothy

Sheer eloquence in it's simple truth.

The rose can be used to convey literal beauty. A husband may use the rose on his wife's grave, speaking to her physical beauty.  

It can also be used figuratively. To convey that a person was beautiful to those around them. Beauty from within, if you will.

The rosebud- always a sad symbol of loss

There is another way that the rose is used as a symbol. 


Look at the development of the flower itself. If a rose is portrayed as a bud, it always symbolizes the life of a child.


The rose bud has not had time to fully bloom. Just as the babe was taken too soon.



Additionally the bud is often shown as snapped off at the stem. The photo below is a wonderful example of this. The grave is that of a young boy, showing us that the rose symbol was used for both boys and girls.

The snapped rosebud

Look carefully, you may see roses tucked into other imagery.  







The stone to the right is a small obelisk.
Notice the dove with a rose bud in it's beak, this too is symbolic of the loss of a child.

The dove and lamb images are frequently used to symbolize children.

The rosebud adds an extra punch to this image.

The stone on the left is found in Belfast, Maine, and sadly has long ago fallen over. Notice the hand of the angel. She carries a rosebud back to Heaven with her. Very subtle how the rosebud was worked into this image.

Breathtaking!

Once the personal information is read on the stone, we realize this is a child of less than 2 years of age and the only child to her grieving parents.

As an icon, the rose speaks to us in many ways. This quote may say it all...

 

"Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose."  -Turkish Proverb