Timeless Love in “A Red Red Rose”

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 ‘A Red Red Rose’ is a famous Scottish love song attributed to Robert Burns. He is believed to have been inspired by a simple Scots song he had heard in the country.

Burns first planned to publish it in A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice, a compilation of songs by George Thomson. Because of differences of opinion about the song’s value, he gave it to Thomson’s rival publisher, Pietro Urbani. It was published in 1794 in Scots Songs by Urbani with a note: “The lyrics had been given to me by a celebrated Scots poet, who was so struck by them when sung by a country girl that he wrote them down and, not being pleased with the air, begged the author to set them to music in the style of a Scots tune, which he has done accordingly”. Burns has referred to this song elsewhere as ‘a simple old Scots song which I had picked up in the country.’

The poem/song is a ballad meant to be sung aloud. It describes the speaker’s deep love for his beloved and promises that this love will last longer than human life and even the planet, remaining fresh and constant forever.

The poem begins with the popular /oft-quoted line in literature – “O my Luve is like a red, red rose”. The speaker describes his love as beautiful and fresh, like a red rose that “newly sprung in June”. It emphasises his beloved’s beauty and youth. Then, he compares his love to a song/melody played by a talented musician – “like the melody / That’s sweetly played in tune.”

In the next stanza, he tells her he loves her passionately and addresses her as “my bonnie lass”. Then he says his love will last till the oceans dry: “luve thee still, my dear, / Till a’ the seas gang dry.”

In the third stanza, he uses two more beautiful images to show his deep, intense and everlasting love for her. He will love her till the rocks melt in the sun’s heat and till the “sands o’of life shall run”, or in other words, till the end of the earth and human life.

The speaker uses three images to measure how long his feelings for his beloved will last: the seas drying up, the rocks melting, and the sands of life running out. These could only happen after aeons, if ever. Now, it seems that the speaker’s love, far from lasting only as long as a flower, will endure longer than human life.

The poet concludes the poem by saying goodbye to his beloved – “And fare thee weel, my only luve!”. He reminds her that she is his only love. The separation is just for a while, and he will return soon, even if the journey back is too tedious – “And I will come again, my luve, / Though it were ten thousand mile.”

The poem 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 that these temporary qualities would give rise to feelings that persist eternally, even through ageing and death. The poem suggests that beauty and youth are so powerful they can inspire feelings that endure long after they fade.

The poem is in ballad meter and consists of four-line stanzas (quatrains) that alternate between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Burns employs several poetic devices to convey the depth and enduring nature of the speaker’s love. The poem opens with similes, comparing the speaker’s love to a “red, red rose” and a “melody / That’s sweetly played in tune,” highlighting beauty and harmony. The “red rose” symbolises love and passion, a familiar literary emblem of deep affection. Burns uses vivid imagery to appeal to the senses, such as the visual of a “red, red rose” and the auditory image of a “melody / That’s sweetly played in tune,” enhancing the emotional resonance.

Exaggeration/Hyperbole emphasises the speaker’s commitment, as seen in lines like “Till a’ the seas gang dry” and “And the rocks melt wi’ the sun,” suggesting an eternal and unbreakable love. The repetition of consonant sounds/Alliteration, particularly the ‘l’ and ‘r’ in “O my Luve is like a red, red rose,” creates a musical quality that enhances the poem’s lyrical nature. The repetition of vowel sounds/ Assonance, as in “I will love thee still, my dear,” contributes to the poem’s melodious flow. Phrases like “I will love thee still, my dear” are repeated to emphasise the constancy and depth of the speaker’s love. The recurring line “And I will luve thee still, my dear” serves as a refrain, reinforcing the poem’s central theme of enduring love.

Together, these devices enhance the poem’s emotional expression and lyrical beauty, conveying the speaker’s profound, timeless love.

 

 

 

 

 

WORKS CITED

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43812/a-red-red-rose

https://poets.org/poem/red-red-rose