LitCharts (2024)

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“A Red, Red Rose” is a poem composed by Scotland's national poet, Robert Burns. It was first published in 1794 in a collection of traditional Scottish songs set to music. Burns’s poem was inspired both by a simple Scots song he had heard in the country and by published ballads from the period. The poem has the form of a ballad and is meant to be sung aloud. It describes the speaker’s deep love for his or her beloved and promises that this love will last longer than human life and even the planet itself, remaining fresh and constant forever.

• Read the full text of “A Red, Red Rose”

• “A Red, Red Rose” Summary

• “A Red, Red Rose” Themes

  • 

    Love and Change

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  • 

    Beauty, Youth, and Aging

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• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Red, Red Rose”

  • Lines 1-2

    O my Luve is like a red, red rose
    That’s newly sprung in June;

  • Lines 3-4

    O my Luve is like the melody
    That’s sweetly played in tune.

  • Lines 5-8

    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.

  • Lines 9-12

    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.

  • Lines 13-16

    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.

• “A Red, Red Rose” Symbols

  • 

    Rose

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• “A Red, Red Rose” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Simile

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  • Parallelism

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  • Imagery

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  • Anaphora

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  • Anadiplosis

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  • Epistrophe

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  • Hyperbole

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  • Alliteration

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  • Assonance

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  • Paradox

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  • Consonance

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  • Caesura

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• “A Red, Red Rose” Vocabulary

  Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

  • Luve
  • Fair
  • Bonnie
  • A'
  • Gang
  • Wi'
  • Sands o' life
  • O'
  • Fare
  • Weel
  • • See where this vocabulary word appearsin the poem.

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Red, Red Rose”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “A Red, Red Rose” Speaker

• “A Red, Red Rose” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “A Red, Red Rose”

• More “A Red, Red Rose” Resources

  • External Resources

    • "A Red, Red Rose" Set to Music— Here you can hear Rachel Sermanni sing "A Red, Red Rose" with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in one of the poem's most popular musical settings.

    • "A Red, Red Rose" Original Publication— View a digital copy of the 1794 book "A Selection of Scots Songs Harmonized Improved with Simple and Adapted Graces," in which "A Red, Red Rose" was originally published (scroll to location 80 to see the poem).

    • The Robert Burns Encyclopedia— This resource includes information on Robert Burns's life, writings, and nearly every person and place connected with Burns.

    • "A Red, Red Rose" Out Loud— Listen to"A Red, Red Rose" recited by Christopher Tait, an actor who performs as Robert Burns at Burns Suppers and other Scottish events around the world.

    • Robert Burns Night— This site includes information on Robert Burns Night, a celebration of Scotland's national poet that is held every year in places all over the world.

  • LitCharts on Other Poems by Robert Burns

    • Ae Fond Kiss

    • To a Mouse