House of York basis. Edward Plantagenet became Edward IV in 1461, thus merging the title of Duke of York with the crown. The most popular symbol of the house of York was the White Rose of York. The Yorkist rose is white in colour, because in Christian liturgical symbolism, white is the symbol of light, typifying innocence and purity, joy and glory. During the civil wars of the fifteenth century, the White Rose was the symbol of Yorkist forces opposed to the rival House of Lancaster. The red rose of Lancaster would be a later invention used to represent the House of Lancaster,
To the Rose upon the Rood of Time natural world. The poem continues however, returning to echo the original sentiment, his yearning for lost culture- "But seek alone to hear the strange things said/By God to the bright hearts of those long dead/And learn to chaunt a tongue men do not know/Come near". To the Rose upon the Rood of Time "To the Rose upon the Rood of Time" is poem by W. B. Yeats that was published in "The Rose" in 1893. The poem is one of many early Yeatsian lyrical poems which utilize the symbol of the rose. The poem has twenty four lines, written in