Naming the Rose by Peter Hammill Lyrics

He had worked on this for years
Since they know they'd be childless:
To hybridise a thornless
And deep-scented damask rose
She was always by his side
In the lengthening shadows...
This case is closed

Ena Harkness, Constance Spry
Emily Grey, Margaret Merrill
Zepherine Drouhin, Aimee Vibert and Blanche Moreau –
All these spirits still survive in the act of the grower
(in peace and compassion he's...)
Naming the rose
Naming the rose in the memory of sweetness

Dedication to the call
And he offers up the hope
That love conquers all

It's not easy to explain
How he felt at her passing
The very day on which
The most perfect bloom was full-blown;
Tender cruelty that she'd
Never share in this moment
Naming the rose
He takes her ashes to the seed-bed
And works them in gently
So that her soul will rise like sap
In the plants as they grow
And then whispering her name
Writes it out on the label
Naming the rose
Naming the rose
For the sake of her sweetness

Naming the rose
In the memory of sweetness