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A Red, Red Rose – The Poem

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 play’d 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 well, my only Luve
And fare thee well, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile.

Poem by Robert Burns

Types of Love Stories

No! I am not talking about the one that goes on till eternity or the ones that last a few hours. I believe, if you can measure it on a time scale, it is just another relationship. They say true love is beyond the concept of “space-time”. It is a thing of higher dimension.

Rumi once said, “The minute I heard my first love story, I started looking for you, not knowing
how blind that was. Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere. They’re in each other all along.”

They say love is soulful. There are a variety of connections at the level of the soul between two lovers. Three major ones are:

• The Twin Souls: These are two people who complete each other. Neither of them is complete without each other. They might not be as romantic as the soulmates, but there is never a clash of egos. These are people with the same source of souls, that got separated.

  For example, Rey and Ben Solo. They are the dyad of the force. There may or may not be a romantic relationship all the time, but there is definitely a connection which each person can feel.

• The Soul Mates: These are usually the people who eventually get married. They always may not know the connection, but the other person’s presence makes them feel happy and fulfilled. Once these people realize, they are the ones who live together till the end of their lives, and they are inseparable.
• The Karmic Relationship: This is the most difficult of all the relationships. They may or may not always end up marrying each other. Usually, they are there to clear each other’s karmic backlogs, a purpose they must fulfill whether together or otherwise. In such a relationship both know the connection. But most of the time they cannot be together, despite the best of efforts. And It is difficult to get away from this relationship as well, despite all efforts.

  An example of karmic relation could be Lily Evans and Severus Snape. They had to raise “the chosen one” (Harry Potter). But they could not be together, despite having the same Patronus, “always”.

Of all the love stories, Snape and Lily’s love story has been my favorite.

Robert Burns

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Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796), also known familiarly as Rabbie Burns, the National Bard, Bard of Ayrshire and the Ploughman Poet, and various other names and epithets, was a Scottish poet and lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is in English and a light Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these writings, his political or civil commentary is often at its bluntest.

He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement, and after his death, he became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism, and a cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish diaspora around the world. Celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was chosen as the greatest Scot by the Scottish public in a vote run by Scottish television channel STV.

As well as making original compositions, Burns also collected folk songs from across Scotland, often revising or adapting them. His poem (and song) “Auld Lang Syne” is often sung at Hogmanay (the last day of the year), and “Scots Wha Hae” served for a long time as an unofficial national anthem of the country. Other poems and songs of Burns that remain well known across the world today include “A Red, Red Rose”, “A Man’s a Man for A’ That”, “To a Louse”, “To a Mouse”, “The Battle of Sherramuir”, “Tam o’ Shanter” and “Ae Fond Kiss”.

To read more about Robert Burns, click here.

A Red, Red Rose – Poem Analysis / Summary

‘A red, red rose’ is an attempt by Robert Burns to express the depth of his love for the woman he loves. The speaker wants to tell his love that his love for her will exist till the end of the universe.

This poem is a quatern, consisting of four paragraphs of four lines each. Each paragraph follows a rhyming scheme of A-B-C-B in the first two paragraphs and A-B-A-B in the last two paragraphs.

What the speaker wants to express through each of the paragraphs is:

Stanza 1:

This paragraph is about how fresh his love is (like a rose that just grew in June) and how soothing it is (like a melody played).

Stanza 2:

In this paragraph, the speaker is expressing the depth of his love. He promises to love her till the seas go dry (which is potentially the end of the world).

Stanza 3:

In this stanza, he commits to love her till the sun has melted the last atom is alive, and till there is any sand of life.

Stanza 4:

In this paragraph, maybe the two lovers are parting away. Therefore, Robert Burns is bidding her farewell, with a promise to come back. He promises to come back even though the distance is over ten thousand miles.

To read the best poems ever by the finest writers, click here.

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