A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns โ€“ Summary and Questions

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 โ€˜ 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 poetโ€™s deep love. It expresses the poetโ€™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 belovedโ€™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


โ€œA Red, Red Roseโ€ 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.

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In the poem, the speaker compares his love first with beautiful, vibrant, and new blooming rose in spring and then with a sweet melody โ€œsweetly playโ€™d in tuneโ€ played by skilled musicians.

The beloved is so exquisite that the speaker loves her with a deep and intense passion โ€” 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.

Ans. The hyperbole is โ€œAnd I will love thee still, my dear,/Till aโ€™ the sea gang dry.โ€

Q. Why has the speaker written this poem?

Ans. The speaker has written the poem as a means of bidding goodbye to his love.

Q. What is the theme of the poem?

Ans. The major themes in โ€œA Red, Red Roseโ€: 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 is the metaphor in a red red rose?
Ans. Time and love are key metaphors in the poem โ€œA Red, Red Rose.โ€ Burns uses a collection of pictures and ideas illustrating the delicacy and fragility of love over time. To put it another way, love and beauty are delicate because they exist in time.

Q. Why is love compared to a red red rose?

Ans. The speaker says his love is like a pure red rose, โ€œnewly sprung in June.โ€ In other words, the love of the speaker is like a flower that has just bloomed from the earth. That is why the speaker has compared his love to a red red rose.
Q. What type of poem is A Red Red Rose by Robert Burns?
Ans. A Red Red Rose by Robert Burns is a ballad and is meant to be sung aloud. It alternates between the iambic tetrameter in the odd-numbered lines and the iambic trimeter in the even-numbered lines.
Q. What is the mood of a red red rose?
Ans. The poem is the speakerโ€™s ode to his beloved. Its tone is romantic. While bringing his message of love across, the poet used imagery, simile, hyperbole and other poetic devices. โ€œA Red, Red Roseโ€ is a typical love-themed romantic poem. The speaker explains his always-fresh love for a young lady. The tone is celebratory. In the height of its vibrancy and light, the speaker compares his love to a rose; thatโ€™s why โ€œredโ€ is repeated. โ€ฆ Now, the mood is celebratory. But thereโ€™s only one slight indication that his love isnโ€™t everlasting

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.

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