James Matthew Barrie? Lord Byron? Harriet Mary Carey? Charlotte Elliot? Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Human memory allows us to reflect on past experiences. During the frigid months of winter we can recall the sight and fragrance of beautiful flowers blooming in spring. Here are four instances from a pertinent family of sayings:
(1) Memory was given to mortals so that they might have roses in December.
(2) God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.
(3) God gave us memory that we might have roses in winter.
(4) Memory is the power to gather roses in winter.
This saying is usually attributed to Scottish author James Matthew Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan. However, I have not been able to find a solid citation, and I have become skeptical. Would you please explore the provenance of this saying?
Reply from Quote Investigator: James Matthew Barrie did use the second expression during a Rectorial Address he delivered at the University of St Andrews in Scotland on May 3, 1922; however, he disclaimed credit. Barrie specified an anonymous attribution. Boldface added to excerpt by QI:1
You have had many rectors here in St. Andrews who will continue in bloom long after the lowly ones such as I am are dead and rotten and forgotten. They are the roses in December; you remember someone said that God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.
QI believes that this saying evolved over time, and the creator remains anonymous. Below are selected citations in chronological order.
In 1809 the famous British poet Lord Byron used the phrase “roses in December” within a satirical work entitled “English Bards and Scotch Reviewers”. The poem presented several examples of impossible quests: searching for roses in December; looking for ice in June; hoping to locate a constant wind; and trying to find corn in chaff. The poem indicated that trusting the judgment of literary critics was as foolish as attempting one of these quests:2
And shall we own such judgment? no—as soon
Seek roses in December—ice in June;
Hope constancy in wind, or corn in chaff
Note, the text above appeared in the second revised edition of Byron’s poem. This text did not appear in the first edition.3 Both editions were published in 1809.
Byron’s line mentioning roses was memorable. In 1824 the line was reprinted in “Memoirs of the Rose: Comprising Botanical, Poetical, and Miscellaneous Recollections of That Celebrated Flower” by John Holland. The book stated that hothouses now enabled roses to bloom in winter:4
The demand for Roses in the metropolis, and the high prices which they will sometimes fetch, especially when out of season, renders their artificial cultivation worth the attention of the gardener. Lord Byron says, that he should as soon
“Seek Roses in December, ice in June,”
as expect merit from a certain literary quarter: ice, however, as well as Roses, may be found in the above months, in some conservatories. On the garden bush and the hedgerows, he might, indeed, look in vain for the Rose; but in the cottage window, or the hot-house, it may be found blooming …
The central analogy of the quotation under examination appeared in an 1858 poem titled “The Winter Rose” by Harriet Mary Carey. The experience of beautiful memories was analogous to the experience of roses in winter:5
There are Roses in Winter! some lingerers stay,
Some trees are yet decked with a bud on their spray.
There are Roses in Winter! and sweet their perfume,
And fair glows their light in the darkening gloom.There are Roses in Winter! Fair Memory’s one!
She blossoms in beauty, when Hope’s buds are done.
There are Roses in Winter! the slips we have set
That we tended in springtide and summer bloom yet!
In 1878 Lady Charlotte Elliot published the poem “A Farewell” in “Littell’s Living Age” magazine6 and in the collection “Medusa and Other Poems”.7 Elliot’s work was a farewell message from one lover to another. The phrase “June roses in December” corresponded to memories of the absent lover:
Some little foolish saying
Will wander back unto thee from the past,
Like a stray rose-branch o’er thy pathway cast,
With flowers and thorns thy careless steps waylaying.June roses in December!—
Dream-roses, yet their phantom thorns give pain.
Somewhere, somehow, when we two meet again,
How much must we forget, how much remember!
In 1880 Elliot’s poem was reprinted in the collection “One Hundred Modern Scottish Poets”. So the connection between “June roses in December” and memory was maintained in the cultural milieu.8
In 1901 “Good Cheer: A Monthly Magazine for Cheerful Thinkers” of Boston, Massachusetts published a group of miscellaneous sayings without attributions which included the following three items:9
The compliments of some are more distressing than the censure of others.
Humor pleasantly tickles the skin while wit is more likely to prick it.
Memory was given to mortals so that they might have roses in December.
In 1902 “The Banquet Book: A Classified Collection of Quotations” included the following entry with an anonymous attribution:10
Memory was given to mortals so that they might have roses in December. ANON.
In 1915 “Clevedon Mercury and Courier” of Avon, England printed an article about a recent funeral. The piece described a note which was placed near the coffin. The note contained a version of the saying which began with a reference to “God” instead of “mortals”:11
‘God has given us memories that we might have roses in December.’
In 1922 English priest and poet Geoffrey Studdert Kennedy published the collection “Songs of Faith and Doubt”12 which included a poem titled “Roses in December”. The first three lines of this poem connected memory to “roses in December”:13
God gave His children memory
That in life’s garden there might be
June roses in December.
In May 1922 James Matthew Barrie’s speech at the University of St Andrews was published under the title “Courage”. Barrie used the quotation, but he disclaimed credit:14
… you remember someone said that God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.
In June 1922 the “Lancaster Intelligencer” of Pennsylvania printed the following:15
As James Barrie quoted in his famous address to the Scottish students recently: “God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.”
In 1923 the religious periodical “The Australian Christian Commonwealth” attributed an instance of the saying using the word “winter” instead of “December” to Barrie. The ellipsis occurred in the newspaper text:16
Mr. J. M. Barrie says: “God gave us memory, that we might have roses … in Winter.”
In 1925 religious figure Gaius Glenn Atkins published a collection of sermons under the title “Craftsmen of the Soul”. Atkins credited Barrie with another version of the saying:17
Memory says Barrie, is the power to gather roses in winter.
In 1932 “The Covington Virginian” newspaper of Virginia printed the following:18
“God gave us memory that we might have roses in winter,” said Sir James M. Barrie, and this was quoted by Dr. Porter last night at the opening of his sermon.
In 1942 “A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources” compiled by H. L. Mencken included this entry:19
Memory is the power to gather roses in Winter.
Author unidentified
In 1977 “Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time” compiled by Laurence J. Peter included the following entry:20
God gave us memory that we might have roses in December.
—James M. Barrie
In 1993 “The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations” contained this entry:21
God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.
J. M. BARRIE (1860-1937), British playwright. Rectorial address, 3 May 1922, St. Andrew’s University, Scotland.
In conclusion, James Matthew Barrie helped to popularize this saying when he used it during a speech in 1922, but Barrie specified an anonymous attribution. QI believes that the saying evolved over time. In 1858 the poet Harriet Mary Carey described the experience of “roses in winter” as an archetype of memory. In 1878 the poet Charlotte Elliot depicted “June roses in December” as the essence of memory.
In 1901 “Good Cheer” magazine printed the following statement without attribution: “Memory was given to mortals so that they might have roses in December”. In 1915 a newspaper in Clevedon, England printed the following without attribution: “God has given us memories that we might have roses in December”.
Image Notes: Picture of four pink roses from webentwicklerin at Pixabay. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to researcher Dave Hill whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. Hill noted that Barrie used the quotation during his Rectorial Address, but Hill also observed that Barrie disclaimed credit. In addition, Hill supplied helpful citations such as the instance in “Good Cheer” magazine. Many thanks also to researcher Nigel Rees who discussed this topic in his “Quote…Unquote” newsletter of October 2024. Rees pointed to Barrie’s 1922 Rectorial Address, Kennedy’s 1922 poem, Byron’s 1809 poem, and other citations.
- 1922, Courage by J. M. Barrie, Courage: The Rectorial Address Delivered at St Andrews University on May 3, 1922, Quote Page 1, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1809, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers: A Satire by Lord Byron, Second Edition, Lines 75 to 78, Printed for James Cawthorn, British Library, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1809, English Bards and Scotch Reviewers: A Satire by Lord Byron, First Edition, (Quotation is absent), Printed for James Cawthorn, British Library, London. (Internet Archive Full View) link ↩︎
- 1824, Memoirs of the Rose: Comprising Botanical, Poetical, and Miscellaneous Recollections of That Celebrated Flower by John Holland, Section: Letter 3, Quote Page 29, Printed for Francis Westley, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1858, Echoes from the Harp of France by H. M. Carey (Harriet Mary Carey), Poem: The Winter Rose, Quote Page 88 and 89, Printed by Domin, Hôtel des Monnaies, Caen, France. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1878 September 21, Littell’s Living Age, Poem: A Farewell by Lady Charlotte Elliot, Quote Page 706, Column 2, Littell & Gay, Boston, Massachusetts. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1878, Medusa and Other Poems by Lady Charlotte Elliot, Poem: A Farewell, Quote Page 72, C. Kegan Paul & Company, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1880, One Hundred Modern Scottish Poets: With Biographical and Critical Notices, Poem: A Farewell, by Lady Charlotte Elliot, Quote Page 57, D. H. Edwards, Brechin. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1901 May, Good Cheer: A Monthly Magazine for Cheerful Thinkers, Volume 2, Number 1, (Untitled miscellaneous collection of sayings), Quote Page 27, Forbes & Company, Boston, Massachusetts. (HathiTrust Full View) link ↩︎
- 1902, The Banquet Book: A Classified Collection of Quotations, Compiled by Cuyler Reynolds, Topic: Reminiscences — Old Age — Memory, Quote Page 247, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1915 March 6, Clevedon Mercury and Courier, Death of Mrs. E. H. Hazell, Quote Page 5, Column 3, Clevedon, Avon, England. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1922, Songs of Faith and Doubt by G. A. Studdert-Kennedy, Poem: Roses in December, Quote Page 74, Hodder and Stoughton, London. Note: This citation has yet been verified with hardcopy or scans; this data is based on Google Books in snippet view together with a 1923 citation in (Google Books Snippet View) ↩︎
- 1923, The Speaker’s Bible, Edited by the Reverend James Hastings, The Gospel According to St. Luke, Volume 2, Section: Secrecy xii-2, Quote Page 264, The Speaker’s Bible Offices, Aberdeen, Scotland. Note: This book cited “Songs of Faith and Doubt” for the reprint of the poem. (Internet Archive Full View) link ↩︎
- 1922, Courage by J. M. Barrie, Courage: The Rectorial Address Delivered at St Andrews University on May 3, 1922, Quote Page 1, Charles Scribner’s Sons, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1922 June 10, Lancaster Intelligencer, Men and Affairs, Quote Page 11, Column 2, Lancaster, Pennsylvania. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1923 June 8, The Australian Christian Commonwealth: The Organ of the Methodist Church in South Australia, Seasons of Refreshing, Quote Page 3, Column 1, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1925 Copyright, Craftsmen of the Soul and Other Addresses by Gaius Glenn Atkins (Minister of the First Congregational Church in Detroit, Michigan), Sermon 3: The Book of Remembrance, Start Page 44, Quote Page 46, Fleming H. Revell Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1932 April 21, The Covington Virginian, Roses in November Subject of Sermon, Quote Page 6, Column 2,Covington, Virginia. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
- 1942, A New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources, Selected and Edited by H. L. Mencken (Henry Louis Mencken), Section: Memory, Quote Page 778, Column 2, Alfred A. Knopf. New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- 1977, Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time, Compiled by Laurence J. Peter, Section: Memory and Imagination, Quote Page 329, William Morrow and Company, New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- 1993, The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Edited by Robert Andrews, Topic: Memory, Quote Page 574, Columbia University Press, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎