A Red, Red Rose Analysis

O my Luve's like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June;
O my Luve's like the melodie
That's sweetly played in tune.

As 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:

Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve,
And fare thee weel awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho' it ware ten thousand mile.

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This poem reminds me od the poem "Follower" by Seamus Heaney, becouse of its structure, based in siple, and even stanzas, with an even number of lines. As in Seamus's poem, The first letter of each line is a capital letter which reminds us that the poem is meant to be red aloud (the reader raises his voice seeing the capital letter as he starts a line).
This poem has also a bit of Benjamin Zephenias's "Dis Poetry" by the way in which it's written-non standard english. It's a very personnal poem.
In it, Robert Burns talks about his love, starting out with two similies in the 1st stanza: he compares love to a "red red rose", often seen as the symbol of love, and the cliché gift for lovers; and as a "melody that's sweetly played in tune", giving us the idea of the sweetness of his love. The fact that he sais "that's newly sprung in june", explains how "young" his love is, how recent it is. In the first stanza, the general subject is his love.
In the second stanza, instead he starts talking about his love Towards her, not forgetting the passage of time: "Till the seas gang dry".
The third stanza is full of metaphores. There is syntactical repetition, and mirroring between the second and tghe third stanza. He is insisting on the treustworthy of what he is saying "Till' a' the seas gang dry...". And he is telling her the magnitude of his love.
Finally, in the forth stanza, he ends up with a promise- that he will love her even with the passage of time-, along with the repetition of "And fare thee weel".

| Posted on 2009-04-05 | by a guest

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i think it means love is a hard subject
nissa¢¾12|13|08 (y)

| Posted on 2008-12-14 | by a guest

.: Analysis :.

One of the most famous songs that Robert Burns wrote for this project and first published in 1794 was “A Red, Red Rose.” Burns wrote it as a traditional ballad, four verses of four lines each.
“A Red, Red Rose” begins with a quatrain containing two similes. Burns compares his love with a springtime blooming rose and then with a sweet melody. These are popular poetic images and this is the stanza most commonly quoted from the poem.
The second and third stanzas become increasingly complex, ending with the metaphor of the “sands of life,” or hourglass. One the one hand we are given the image of his love lasting until the seas run dry and the rocks melt with the sun, wonderfully poetic images. On the other hand Burns reminds us of the passage of time and the changes that result. That recalls the first stanza and its image of a red rose, newly sprung in June, which we know from experience will change and decay with time. These are complex and competing images, typical of the more mature Robert Burns.
The final stanza wraps up the poem’s complexity with a farewell and a promise of return.

| Posted on 2008-02-12 | by a guest