Thomas Hood, wrote, “Gold! Gold! Gold!/Bright and yellow, hard and cold,/Molten, graven, hammered, and rolled;/Heavy to get, and light to hold;/Hoarded, bartered, bought and sold/To the very verge of the churchyard mold;/Price of many a crime untold;/Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold!/Good or bad a thousand fold!”
From ‘Stainless Steel’ … to ‘Gold’!
In a very old Encyclopedia Britannica, ancient even by today’s standards, was this: “According to Greek legend, the Phrygian King Midas once did a favor for Bacchus (Dionysus), the wine god. In gratitude Bacchus offered the king any reward he might choose, and Midas asked that everything he touched be turned to gold.
“This request was granted, but it soon proved to be a curse. In the hand of Midas, bread turned to gold. Wine became molten gold as soon as it touched his lips. Even his body turned to gold wherever he laid his hands on it. Finally Midas prayed to Bacchus for deliverance and the god told him to bathe in the river Pactolus. By doing so the king lost his magic touch, but the river sands have ever after been golden.”
I would like to believe that he touched one last thing before bathing in the river and turning the sands into the golden color they have since remained. While in his magnificent royal gardens one day, he gently caressed a beautiful rose at the peak of its perfection, so enamored was he by its magnificence. He may have brushed by others in that same passing. I’m sure he would have shed a tear down his cheek that turned molten for his gaff, but I wonder if the legend of the gold rose was secretly whispered by his advisers and servants and passed down through the ages, along with the perfect gold rose still on its stem.
…I would like to believe that story that I have embellished because I have in my possession two gold roses…
Now, the roses I have were definitely not one of the few that may have been hastily removed from his stately gardens and hoarded in secret, but the seed of an idea may have sprouted in the mind of a modern day alchemist, inspired by the touch of Midas. An idea to preserve a perfect rose for all eternity…
It was a brilliant concept. The alchemy was made real by dipping this unblemished specimen of nature’s beauty in rich 24-karat gold. Two of the world’s most prized possessions: a rose picked at just the right moment before it begins to fade, and the world’s most sought-after metal. In this case, the “Philosopher’s Stone” is gold itself, transforming the ephemeral in nature to a state that would preserve its beauty forever.
The company I purchased both of these roses from was careful to select a fresh rose for its shape and quality. The rose was then electroformed and finished in 24K gold. I bought one for my wife and its sibling for my mother. After my mother’s passing, I felt her gold rose needed to be with the other. Now they both share a crystal vase on a glass shelf in one of our curio cabinets.
The Midas story is pure legend and the rest is speculation on my part, but roses have adorned the gardens of royal palaces through the ages. We know this to be true. One case in point is the story of Malmaison.
According to the 1984 Avon Calendar of Roses, the Empress Josephine grew some of the the most beautiful roses in the gardens of Malmaison. She would stroll through these gardens late at night with her husband, the Emperor Napoleon, and together they would become intoxicated by the cloying fragrances vying for their attention. She had a magnificent collection of roses, varieties from every part of the known world. When the French navy captured a ship at sea, it was searched for new species of roses. She had 250 species in all growing in her lush gardens. It was said that her private rooms in Malmaison were saturated with their fragrance. She commissioned the artist, Redoute, to make folios with his artistic interpretation of these flowers. These folios have survived and can be seen today.
Josephine died with the Emperor’s name on her lips, and I would imagine the heady perfume of the rose filling her senses. In time, Malmaison was almost completely destroyed, but it is said that over 200 years later you can still catch the lingering scent of the roses in her private quarters.
We preserve the roses we receive by hanging them to dry and using the petals for a potpourri. Josephine had another way to preserve the rose. She would advise that you fill your gardens with them and then saturate the rooms in your home with the scent.
Sirach, wrote: “Gold is tried in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.”
Such was the case with the Emperor Napoleon and King Midas, but thanks to the Empress Josephine and a company with the Midas Touch, the rose abides…
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Don Jackson
