A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns is a poem that is in the ballad formation of four-line stanzas with ABBA rhyme schemes, and that format automatically links the reader to concepts of love and emotion. With the addition of metaphors and similes that describe the narrator’s affection and the woman who holds that affection, the narrator attempts throughout the lines to express the depth of his “luve.” This could be a final reassurance to his “dear” since the ending stanza reveals that he has to leave her for “awhile,” but regardless of the reason, the main element of this work remains the “luve” itself.
Through repetition, simile, metaphor, and structure, Burns has created a work that dives into the heart of this narrator’s affection.
The poem was also translated into Swedish by Evert Taube and put to music to become a big hit. It seems Burns’ poetry makes a habit of being transformed into song.
A Red, Red Rose Analysis
First Stanza
O my Luve is like a red, red rose
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my Luve is like the melody
That’s sweetly played in tune.
Without question, this first stanza expresses the core focus of the poem, which is for the narrator to declare his affection for his “Luve.” That the endearment of “Luve” is capitalized gives the title a higher level of significance than what a lowercase concept would address, as if this title is a proper name attached to the person. The reader does not need to know the name of this lady. The nickname is sufficient to distinguish who this person is to the narrator.
The spelling of the word, “Luve,” is less modern as well, which takes this concept into a historical era. That strategy elevates the amount of romance that is a part of the situation since ideas of chivalry and codes of historic courtship are evoked with the spelling. From that, even if this poem were written today (which it admittedly was not), the language would reach back into those older times to resurrect outdated, but appreciated, concepts of love and romance.
What the narrator has to say about his “Luve” is that she is “like a red, red rose.” As a “rose” is the flower most connected to romance, this is a strong simile. In addition, “red” is seen as a color of passion, so to attribute that color to the “rose” twice in a row deposits a hefty amount of passion to the romance—so much that the color must be repeated.
Beyond the concept of the “rose,” the narrator relates his “Luve” to the “new[ness]” of June and a “melody [t]hat’s sweetly played in tune.” This indicates the relationship is so refreshing that he feels renewed through it like a summer day, and a song is in his life because of his “Luve” that is “sweet” and perfect. These ideas are highly relevant to the ballad formation of this poem because they are obvious connections to things that are linked with romantic love. With every new idea brought to the stanza, it seems, the narrator is searching for a means to address the fulness of his “Luve.”
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