A Summary of “A Red, Red Rose”

 The speaker describes his or her love—meaning either the person the speaker

loves or the speaker's feelings of love for that person—as being as beautiful, vivid,
and fresh as a flower that has just recently bloomed. This love is as sweet as a
beautiful song played by a skilled musician.
The beloved is so beautiful that the speaker loves her with a deep and strong passion
—so strong, in fact, that the speaker's love will last until the oceans have become
dry.
Even after the seas have evaporated and the earth has decayed, the speaker will still
love the beloved. This love will endure until their own lives have ended and even
until all human life has ended.
The speaker concludes by saying goodbye to the beloved—who is, the speaker
reminds her, the only person the speaker loves. The speaker wishes her well during
their temporary separation. The speaker reaffirms his or her faithful love by
promising to return even if the journey covers a very long distance and takes a very
long time.

“A Red, Red Rose” begins by describing the speaker’s love for a beloved with
images that are beautiful but not necessarily long-lasting. The speaker then affirms,
however, that his or her love will outlast human life itself. Through the
speaker’s paradoxical (but passionate) claims, the poem argues that true love is both
constantly renewing and completely unchangeable.

The speaker begins by describing love in terms that are beautiful but that don’t
immediately suggest permanence. The first lines compare the speaker’s love to “a
red, red rose.” “Luve” could refer to the beloved, the person the speaker loves. It
could also refer to the speaker’s feelings for this person. Saying the beloved is like a
rose “newly sprung in June” emphasizes her beauty and youth. Meanwhile, saying
that the speaker’s love for her is like a new rose implies that this is a new
relationship, with all the freshness and excitement of a developing romance. Of
course, a rose can only be “newly sprung” for a short time; June ends after thirty
days, and flowers fade quickly. If the speaker’s love is just like a new rose, maybe it
won’t last very long.

The speaker then says this love is like “a melody / That’s sweetly played in tune.”
But again, instruments can go out of tune, just as flowers can fade. The newness and
excitement of the speaker’s love initially make it seem somewhat unstable.
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Then, however, the speaker goes on to emphasize how long this love will last. The
speaker uses three images to measure how long these feelings of love will last: the
seas going dry, the rocks melting, and the sands of life running out. These events
could only occur after eons of time, if ever. It seems now that the speaker’s love, far
from lasting only as long as a flower, will actually endure longer than human life.
Although these conflicting descriptions of the speaker’s love sound like a paradox,
the speaker continues to insist that true love really can embody these seemingly
opposite qualities of newness and permanence.

In the final stanza, the speaker bids farewell to the beloved, as if the speaker is
planning to leave on a journey. The beloved doesn’t need to worry, though, because
the speaker promises to return, even if the journey is “ten thousand mile[s]” long.
This promise implies that, just as long stretches of time could not exhaust the
speaker’s love for the beloved, a long stretch of distance cannot keep the speaker
from her. And the length of this journey now seems short—just “awhile”—
compared to the near-infinite time the speaker’s love will last. It seems, then, that
love like the speaker’s is powerful enough to make earthly obstacles (like physical
distance) feel insignificant. That is, this love is reliable and constant, but it also feels
fresh and exciting enough to adapt to changed circumstances. The moment of
farewell in the final stanza highlights the speaker’s core argument: love that lasts
forever is also love that allows for change over time.

“A Red, Red Rose” initially suggests that the speaker’s love is generated by the
beloved’s youth and beauty—qualities that fade with time. The speaker then affirms,
however, that these temporary qualities actually give rise to feelings that persist
eternally, through aging and even through death. The poem seems to argue that
beauty and youth are so powerful that they can inspire feelings that last long after
these qualities themselves are gone.

The speaker begins with an image of the beloved that emphasizes her youth and
beauty, suggesting a love that is enthusiastic but likely to fade with time. The
speaker tells the reader that this love “like a red, red rose.” Roses are most beautiful
when “newly sprung”—but this is a beauty that, by definition, cannot last. Newness

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ends quickly, and all flowers eventually fade—they cannot be “red, red” forever. If
“my Luve” refers to the beloved, then comparing her to a rose acknowledges that
she is beautiful now but that her beauty will fade over time. Or, if “my Luve” refers
to the speaker’s feelings for her, then it seems that the speaker’s feelings may also
fade over time.

As the poem continues, however, the speaker suggests that the impermanent
qualities of youth and beauty give rise to a love that is permanent. The speaker’s
love will remain constant even through aging, decay, and death. In the second
stanza, the speaker affirms the beloved’s beauty—“So fair art thou”—and the
speaker’s strong love for her—“So deep in luve am I.” The parallel phrases starting
with "So" suggest a causal connection between the two ideas. It is because she is so
beautiful, as beautiful as a rose, that the speaker’s feelings for her are so strong.
They are so strong, in fact, that they will last longer than any rose. Somewhat
counterintuitively, the poem claims that the speaker’s love will actually outlast the
rose-like beauty that initially inspired it.

To indicate how long he or she will love the beloved, the speaker uses three images:
the sea going dry, the rocks melting with the sun, and the sands of life running out.
These images represent great lengths of time (it would take an eternity for these
events to happen) and, crucially, also describe processes of decay. They show the
natural world losing its vitality and form, in much the same way as an individual
flower would. Through these images, the speaker is indirectly confronting the reality
of aging and death—not just in the natural world, but also in the lives of this couple.
The speaker implies that he or she will continue to love the beloved even as she ages
and her beauty decays. That is, her beautiful appearance may have first inspired their
love, but their love will endure even when her beauty is gone. It will last, in fact,
until the sands of their lives have run out and they draw close to death.

When the speaker promises to return after a long journey, knowing the beloved will
have aged in that time, the speaker reaffirms that his or her feelings will remain the
same even though the beloved may grow less beautiful. The speaker concludes by
bidding farewell to the beloved and promising to return to her, even if the journey is

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“ten thousand mile[s]” long. The beloved will likely be older, less youthful, and
perhaps less beautiful by the time the speaker returns. Nevertheless, the
speaker does promise to return, indicating that although the beloved may change, the
speaker’s feelings will remain constant. Through the final promise, the poem
indicates again that the love youthful beauty inspires need not end when youth itself
ends.

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns

A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns is a poem that is in the ballad formation of
four-line stanzas with ABBA rhyme schemes, and that format automatically links
the reader to concepts of love and emotion. With the addition
of metaphors and similes that describe the narrator’s affection and the woman who
holds that affection, the narrator attempts throughout the lines to express the depth of
his “luve.” This could be a final reassurance to his “dear” since the ending stanza
reveals that he has to leave her for “awhile,” but regardless of the reason, the main
element of this work remains the “luve” itself.
Through repetition, simile, metaphor, and structure, Burns has created a work that
dives into the heart of this narrator’s affection.

The poem was also translated into Swedish by Evert Taube and put to music to
become a big hit. It seems Burns’ poetry makes a habit of being transformed into
song.
 

A Red, Red Rose Analysis

First Stanza
O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
Without question, this first stanza expresses the core focus of the poem, which is for
the narrator to declare his affection for his “Luve.” That the endearment of “Luve” is
capitalized gives the title a higher level of significance than what a lowercase
concept would address, as if this title is a proper name attached to the person. The
reader does not need to know the name of this lady. The nickname is sufficient to
distinguish who this person is to the narrator.

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The spelling of the word, “Luve,” is less modern as well, which takes this concept
into a historical era. That strategy elevates the amount of romance that is a part of
the situation since ideas of chivalry and codes of historic courtship are evoked with
the spelling. From that, even if this poem were written today (which it admittedly
was not), the language would reach back into those older times to resurrect outdated,
but appreciated, concepts of love and romance.

What the narrator has to say about his “Luve” is that she is “like a red, red rose.” As
a “rose” is the flower most connected to romance, this is a strong simile. In addition,
“red” is seen as a color of passion, so to attribute that color to the “rose” twice in a
row deposits a hefty amount of passion to the romance—so much that the color must
be repeated.
Beyond the concept of the “rose,” the narrator relates his “Luve” to the “new[ness]”
of June and a “melody [t]hat’s sweetly played in tune.” This indicates the
relationship is so refreshing that he feels renewed through it like a summer day, and
a song is in his life because of his “Luve” that is “sweet” and perfect. These ideas
are highly relevant to the ballad formation of this poem because they are obvious
connections to things that are linked with romantic love. With every new idea
brought to the stanza, it seems, the narrator is searching for a means to address the
fulness of his “Luve.”
Second Stanza
So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.
The second stanza begins by stepping back from addressing the narrator’s feelings
and actions to compliment his “bonnie lass” for being “[s]o fair.” Once that
compliment is set in stone, the narrator returns to his own feelings by clearly stating
that he is “[s]o deep in luve.” It is noteworthy that “luve” in this scenario is no
longer capitalized, potentially because it is used as a verb rather than a noun to
address the woman he cares for. That differentiation could be an indication that the
woman is more significant than the actual action of “luve,” as if the only reason he is
able to experience this grandness of emotions is because of her. For any other person
then, the “luve” would be less significant.

From there, the narrator declares he “will luve [her] still…[t]ill a’ the seas gang
dry.” This is a clever way of saying his affection for her will continue forever, and as
strong as that declaration is, the narrator feels sure of it. This could be because his

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“luve” itself is as “deep” as “the seas,” and just as they will not “dry” up, he knows
for certain his “luve” will continue as well.

One final thing worth noting in this stanza is that the narrator utilizes a new term of
endearment for his “Luve,” and that is “dear.” This term, however, remains
lowercase, perhaps because it is not a strong enough noun to fully represent his
affection for this woman. It must be “Luve” to successfully address it, and only once
it is addressed to that full extent does it merit capitalization. Otherwise, any term of
endearment will fall short and merit lowercase lettering.

Third Stanza
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.
The narrator begins this third stanza by repeating the idea that he “will luve” her
“[t]ill a’ the seas gang dry” and adds in the repeated endearment of “my dear.” This
reveals how strongly the narrator feels about this concept and how desperate he is to
ensure that his beloved understands how long his affection will endure. In a poem
that is only sixteen lines, repeating information severely limits the ideas the poet can
address, so to spend so much time on this one concept highlights how relevant and
important it is to the narrator.

From there, the narrator continues with his declarations of how long his “luve” will
survive, specifically addressing “rocks melt[ing] wi’ the sun” and “the sands o’
life…run[ning].” What this indicates is that as long as the world continues as it is,
and so long as “the sands o’ life” allow him to exist, he “will love” this woman.

Interestingly, the spelling of the word, “luve,” has changed in this stanza to a more
modern, “love.” This in itself could represent the long reach of his affection, that it is
both historic and modern—past, present, and future. Overall, the narrator wants the
vastness of his “love” to be revealed, and the language does a remarkable job of
doing just that.

Fourth Stanza
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And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my luve,
Though it were ten thousand mile.
Though the poem does not address why, it is evident in this fourth stanza that the
narrator must leave his “luve.” It is worth noting that the spelling of the word has
returned to the more historic form, but also that he is addressing his “luve” in
lowercase letters in this stanza. What this could indicate is that by leaving, his “luve”
must be set aside, and that lower level of priority is showcased in that lowercase
approach.

Whatever reason this narrator must leave, he does not go without reassuring his
“luve” that he “will come again,” even though “ten thousand mile” separate them.
The pairing of the plural, “ten thousand,” with the singular, “mile” can be seen as
evidence that the length of the distance separating them does not matter. Whether it
is multiple “mile[s]” or only one, the narrator is certain he will return to his “luve.”
That determination is yet another indication of how deeply his “love” runs, as is the
repeated notion of “fare thee weel.” As was already noted, repeating concepts in
such a brief poem is a serious decision since so much of the poem is then
represented in a handful of words. That his parting words include the advice—or the
plead—for her to be well highlights how much he wishes her to “fare…weel” during
his absence. This shows a level of caring beyond what he experiences when she is
physically near.

Though the “luve” must be put aside for “awhile,” the narrator’s affections still
remain, and the depth of that affection is the key element of this poem.