A RED RED ROSE

                                                                        Robert Burns

            Robert Burns was a Scottish peasant who took to poetry and became the national poet of Scotland.  Many of Burns’ poems are meant to be sung. He composed many of his songs while ploughing or resting after his work. His poems deal with emotions such as love, hate, sorrow and joy. In many of his poems he expresses his own personal emotions so vividly and powerfully that they have universal appeal.
            A Red, Red Rose is a love poem by Robert Burns. The poem was inspired by a simple Scottish ballad which Burns had heard in the country. The poem has the form of a ballad and is 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 itself, remaining fresh and constant forever.
            The poet is in love with a woman.  The beloved is very beautiful like a red rose that is ‘newly sprung in June’.  In other words, the poet’s love is like a flower that has just blossomed.  Like the flower, his love is new, fresh and young.   This love is also as sweet as a beautiful song played by a skilled musician.
            The beloved is so beautiful that the poet loves her with a deep and strong passion. His love for her is so strong that his love will last until the oceans become dry. Even after the seas have evaporated and the earth has decayed, the poet will still love the beloved. This love will endure until their own lives end and even until all human life comes to an end.
            The poet concludes by saying goodbye to the beloved. He wishes her well during their temporary separation. The poet reaffirms his faithful love by promising to return even if the journey covers a very long distance and takes a very long time.