The speckled rose is rarest

The speckled rose is rarest, by my guess,
Dappled darks best freshen what is bright,
Heaps of praise heave higher by the less,
Granting palled palates foretaste of delight.

So you gloss your glory with your faults
As each shadow lends an excellence to light
Supreme above low dimnesses traversed
Till every ray adorns a peak at height.

Without a breaking edge what is the dawn?
A downy nothing, yet not the night,
An in-between half-darkness, all unknown;
Only faultlines trace what's definite.

So I see, in what you most would hide,
No blot of shame but starts a mark of pride.