A Red Red Rose by Robert Burns

2. A Red, Red Rose

Robert Burns

Before Reading

Answer these questions.

a. How do people express love?

b. What is the symbolic meaning of ‘rose’?

c. What images in nature would you use to express love?

Robert Burns (1759-1796) was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is considered the national poet of Scotland and a central figure in Scottish literature. His father was a tenant farmer, and Burns worked as a plowboy. He grew up poor but well-read and began writing poetry in Scottish dialect. As an adult, he was as unsuccessful as his father in making a living at farming.

In 1791, however, he quit farming for good and moved his family to the nearby town of Dumfries. Never in good health, on the morning of July 21, 1796, he died in Dumfries at the age of 37. He is best known as a pioneer of the Romantic Movement for his lyrical poetry.

The poem 'A Red, Red Rose' is a lyrical ballad that describes the speaker’s deep love for his beloved and promises that this love will last longer than human life. The beloved of the speaker is as beautiful as the red rose and as sweet as the music. With the help of the literary devices, the poet has sketched a very vivid and realistic picture of his profound love.

Reading

O, my love is like a red, red rose,

That’s newly sprung in June.

O, my love is like the melody,

That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

        As fair art thou, my bonny lass,

        So deep in love am I,

        And I will love thee still, my dear,

        Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,

And the rocks melt wi’ the sun!

And I will love thee still, my dear,

While the sands o’ life shall run.

        And fare thee weel, my only love,

        And fare thee weel a while!

        And I will come again, my love,

        Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!

Glossary

a’(det.): short form of the word ‘all’

art (v.): an older form of the word ‘are’

bonny (adj.): attractive, beautiful

gang (v.): ‘go’ in Scottish

lass (n.): a girl or young woman

o’ (prep.): short form of the word ‘of’

weel (adj.): an older form of the word ‘well’

thee (pro.): an older form of the word ‘you’

tho’ (conj.): though

thou (pro.): an older form of the word ‘you’

wi’ (prep.): short form of the word ‘with’

About the Poem

The poem ‘A Red, Red Rose’, has been composed by Robert Burns. It is a lyrical ballad that shows the ideal love and romantic passion of the poet towards his beloved. With the help of the literary devices, the poet has sketched a very vivid and realistic picture of his profound love with his intense emotions. There are some major themes in the poem like love and separation. The poet has used of natural object metaphors to show such themes. He adores his beloved’s beauty and shares his unconditional and profound love for her. His love is so deep that it will remain forever. Nothing can stop him loving her. In the poem he promises to return even if he has to travel thousands of miles to get her back.

Summary

 

The poem "A Red, Red Rose"  is about the speaker's lovable feelings for his beautiful beloved. In the poem the speaker compares his beloved to a fresh red rose which blooms in June and to the melody that is sweetly played in perfect tune.

He claims that his beloved is so beautiful that he loves her with a deep and strong passion forever. That’s why he makes different promises.  He wants to love her until all the seas dry up, the rocks melt in the sun and he is alive. After a short break he bids farewell to her and promises to return to her even if he has to cover a long distance of ten thousand miles. The speaker is devoted to his love all the time.

 

 

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. To which two things does the speaker compare his love in the first stanza?
Ans:-  The speaker compares his love with two things in the first stanza are a red rose bloomed in June and sweet melody (music) played in tune.

b. What does the speaker promise in the second and third stanzas?
Ans:- In the second and third stanzas, the speaker promises that he will love his beloved until the seas become dry, the rocks melt in the sun and he is alive.

c. What imagery does he use in his promise, and why do you think he uses such language?
Ans:- In his promise, he uses hyperbolic imagery. He uses such language to express the intensity of his deep love for his beloved.

d. In the last stanza, what event is about to happen by mentioning the number of miles?
Ans:- The speaker and his beloved are going to be separated for a short period of time.

e. Which image in the poem do you find the most memorable or surprising and why?
Ans:- The image of dry seas and melted rocks is the most memorable or surprising because this exaggeration makes us realize the speaker’s devotion to his beloved and eternity of his love for her.

Reference to the context

a. What can you infer about the speaker’s devotion to his beloved from the following lines?

            And I will come again, my love,

           Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!

Ans:- The given line taken  from the poem , A Red Rose, express the speaker’s profound love for his beloved. He says farewell to her, and at the same time promises that he returns to her even if he has to cover a distance of ten thousand miles. His promise shows that no obstacles can separate the speaker from her. It shows that the speaker’s powerful love for his beloved is ready to face any earthly hardship very easily for her.

b. What is the theme of the poem?

Ans:- The poem has the themes of love and passion. The poem is basically concerned with the speaker’s deep love for his beloved. He praises her beauty and expresses his inestimable love for her. His love will remain forever no matter what happens. He bids goodbye to her before they separate, and promises he will come to her even crossing the distance of ten thousand miles. The theme of separation can also be found here in the last stanza.

c. Paraphrase the whole poem into simple prose form.

Ans:- The speaker in the poem compares his beloved with a red rose which newly blooms in summer, and sweet melody played in tune. His beloved is very fair and beautiful. He is very deeply in love with her. He will love her till all the seas go dry, the rocks melt with the heat of the sun, and till the end of life. Now, he bids farewell to her for a short time, but he promises that he will return even if he has to travel ten thousand miles.

For long answer 

The speaker compares the stunning, fresh and delicate red rose of June to his beloved one. Next, the speaker contrasts his beloved with a sweet melody that is played in a lovely tune.

The speaker praises her beauty in the second stanza and also makes promise to his beloved. He is in deep love with her because she is very beautiful. He says that he's going to love her until all the seas on this planet become dry.

Even in the third stanza, the speaker vows to love her forever. He promises to love his beloved until the rocks of this world are melted by the heat of the sun. Until the end of human life, he will love her.

In the fourth stanza, during their temporary separation, the speaker wants his beloved to have a decent life and a promising future. He says goodbye to her for short time promising to return in the final two lines, even though the journey may be too long or ten thousand miles and takes a very long time. 

d. Analyse the poem in terms of the literary devices such as simile, symbolism, imagery, alliteration, and assonance.

Ans:- The poet has used several literary devices to show the beauty of his beloved and the power of his love. The poetic devices are simile, symbolism, imagery, alliteration, and assonance.

The first literary device or tool used in the poem is simile. Simile is an expression which describes one thing comparing it with another, using connective words as or like. In this poem there are two similes. They are used when the speaker compares his beloved with a red rose and sweet melody.

Symbolism is another figure of speech, used in the poem. The rose is a traditional symbol of love. In the poem, the rose symbolizes love between the speaker and his beloved. This symbolism has been used from the ancient Greek literature, which associates the rose with Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love.

In the poem, imagery has been created with simile and hyperbole. There is a visual picture of a red rose in our mind when the speaker compares his beloved with a red rose. When he compares her to the sweet melody, auditory imagery is used. Comparisons of both the rose and the melody shows his beloved lovely, sweet, new, and young. To convey the intensity of his affection, he then switches to hyperbolic images, by expressing that he will love until the seas become dry and the rocks melt in the sun. We can view the world of dry seas and melted rocks in our mind.

The poet makes use of alliteration and assonance to emphasize his powerful feelings of love for his beloved.

Alliteration is found in the line ‘O, my love is like a red, red rose.’ It has the repetition of the consonant sounds /l/ and /r/. Assonance is a literary device in which the repetition of vowel sounds occurs in the same line. In the line ‘And I will love thee still, my dear’, the vowel sound /i/ is repeated.

e. What is hyperbole? Explain its purpose citing examples of hyperbole used in the poem.

Ans:- Hyperbole is a figure of speech used to exaggerate a statement for the sake of emphasis. This technique is used to emphasize how deeply he loves his beloved. The exaggeration happens in the lines ‘Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear’ and ‘And the rocks melt wi’ the sun!’. It is literally impossible to say that the seas dry up and the rocks melt in the sun. The poet uses the line to show the eternity of his love for his beloved.

f. What is refrain? Why is it used in the poem? Explain citing an example from the poem.

Ans:- A refrain is a phrase or line recurring at intervals in a poem or song, usually at the end of a stanza. The poet has used this device to establish meter of the poem, and indicate its romantic tone. As the line, ‘And I will love thee still, my dear,’ has been repeated in the second and the third stanzas, it has become a refrain. When this line recurs in the poem, it becomes noticeable to the readers.