A Rose and Milton
From the generations of roses That are lost in the depths of time I want one saved from oblivion, One spotless rose, of all things That ever were. Fate permits me The gift of choosing for once That silent flower, the last rose That Milton held before him, Unseen. O vermilion, or yellow Or white rose of a ruined garden, Your past still magically remains Forever shines in these verses, Gold, blood, ivory or shadow As if in his hands, invisible rose.
A Rose and Milton - meaning Summary
Poetry Against Oblivion
The poem imagines rescuing a single rose from the countless flowers lost to time: the unseen rose before the blind Milton. Borges treats poetry as a way of preserving what history and death erase. Though the flower's exact color and physical presence cannot be recovered, Milton's verses allow it to endure as an imagined object, renewed in every reader's mind.
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