I liked the implication that Dante’s confidence expands by the agency of another, in this case likened to the sun unfolding a rose. How about that as a metaphor for being a mentor to someone?

‘My confidence expands just as the sun

Unfolds the rose into its fullest bloom.’ 

Source: Dante, The Divine Comedy (Paradise, Canto 22), trans. Clive James (New York: Liveright Publishing, 2013), p. 463

Photo credit: schneeknirschen at pixabay