Introduction
A Red, Red Rose by Rober Burns is a beautiful romantic poem first published in 1794 in A Selection of Scots Songs, edited by Peter Urbani. Burns ‘ poem was both influenced by a simple Scottish song he had heard in the country and by ballads written from that time. The poem is a ballad in nature and is intended to be sung aloud. It explains the deep love of the speaker for his beloved and guarantees that this love will last longer than human life and even the world itself, remaining forever fresh and constant.
The poem is written in a cheerful and pleasant tone. The poet employs the simile to describe his beloved. The poet promises his beloved that he will not abandon her until his death. The poem expresses the poet’s deep love. It expresses the poet’s love commitment.
Through similes and hyperbolic comparisons, the poet expresses his deep love for his beloved. He compares his love to a red rose and a melody. He expresses his admiration for his beloved’s beauty. He tells his beloved that he will return for her, despite the fact that he is ten thousand miles away. He tells the readers that love is lovely and priceless.
A Red, Red Rose Summary
“A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns is a poem written by the national poet of Scotland, Robert Burns. It first appeared in a compilation of popular Scottish songs set to music in 1794. It is written in ballad stanzas. In this poem, the poet expresses his unending love for his beloved. The pieces together conventional ideas and images of love.
In the poem, the speaker compares his love first with beautiful, vibrant, and new blooming rose in spring and then with a sweet melody “sweetly play’d in tune” played by skilled musicians.
The beloved is so exquisite that the speaker loves her with a deep and intense passion — so intense, in fact, that the love of the speaker endures until the oceans are dry up and rocks melt with the sun.
The speaker will always love the beloved, even after the oceans have evaporated and the world has decayed. That love will last till the end of their own lives and even when all human life is over.
In end, the speaker says farewell to the beloved — who is, the speaker tells her, the only one the speaker loves. During their temporary break, the speaker wishes her well. The speaker reaffirms his or her faithful love by pledging to return even though the journey is long and hard.
Questions and Answers
Q. The poem’s first line is an example of what?
Q. Identify a hyperbole in the second stanza.
Q. Why has the speaker written this poem?
Q. What is the theme of the poem?
Ans. The major themes in “A Red, Red Rose”: The key themes used in the poem are love and separation. The author combines them with the application of natural metaphors. The poem is concerned mainly with the passion of the speaker for his wife. He adores her elegance and shares her everlasting affection.
Q. What did Robert Burns promise in the poem?
Ans. Robert Burns bids farewell to his eternal love and promises to return to her even the journey is long and hard, he will always return to her side.
