When the Rose is Brightest
Composed by 
John Woods Duke
John Woods Duke Text by 
Nathaniel Parker Willis
Nathaniel Parker Willis "When the Rose is Brightest" is a song by John Duke setting a poem by Nathaniel Parker Willis.
Text
To Giulia Grisi
by Nathaniel Parker Willis
When the rose is brightest,
Its bloom will soonest die;
When burns the meteor brightest,
‘T will vanish from the sky.
If Death but wait until delight
O’errun the heart like wine,
And break the cup when brimming quite,
I die — for thou hast poured to-night
The last drop into mine.
Sheet Music
Songs By John Duke, Vol. 1
John Duke
1. When the Rose Is Brightest (Nathaniel Parker Willis)
2. Stopping by Woods on а Snowy Evening (Robert Frost)
3. The Puritan's Ballad (Elinor Wylie)
4. Midcentury Love Letter (Phyllis McGinley)
5. All Beauty Calls You to Me (Sara Teasdale)
6. Listen, I Love You (Sara Teasdale)
7. I am so weak а Thing (Sara Teasdale)
8. All Things in the World Can Rest, But I (Sara Teasdale)
9. Oh, My Love (Sara Teasdale)
10. Renouncement (Alice Meynell)
11. Noonday (Traditional Chinese)
12. Through Your Window (Traditional Chinese)
13. The Shoreless Sea (Traditional Chinese)
14. New Feet within My Garden Go (Emily Dickinson)
15. The Rose did Caper on Her Cheek (Emily Dickinson)
16. Have You Got а Brook in Your Little Heart? (Emily Dickinson)
17. I Taste а Liquor Never Brewed (Emily Dickinson)
18. The Better Part (George Santayana)
2. Stopping by Woods on а Snowy Evening (Robert Frost)
3. The Puritan's Ballad (Elinor Wylie)
4. Midcentury Love Letter (Phyllis McGinley)
5. All Beauty Calls You to Me (Sara Teasdale)
6. Listen, I Love You (Sara Teasdale)
7. I am so weak а Thing (Sara Teasdale)
8. All Things in the World Can Rest, But I (Sara Teasdale)
9. Oh, My Love (Sara Teasdale)
10. Renouncement (Alice Meynell)
11. Noonday (Traditional Chinese)
12. Through Your Window (Traditional Chinese)
13. The Shoreless Sea (Traditional Chinese)
14. New Feet within My Garden Go (Emily Dickinson)
15. The Rose did Caper on Her Cheek (Emily Dickinson)
16. Have You Got а Brook in Your Little Heart? (Emily Dickinson)
17. I Taste а Liquor Never Brewed (Emily Dickinson)
18. The Better Part (George Santayana)
High