A Red, Red Rose is a poem written by Robert Burns which is included in class 11 English poem section unit 2. This poem basically expresses the love of one partner to his/her beloved in a romantic way. Summary and exercise of this poem is discussed in this article.
Class 11 A Red, Red Rose Exercise Questions Answers and detailed summary are discussed in this article.
A Red, Red Rose
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
Answer the following questions.
a. To which two things does the speaker
compare his love in the first stanza?
→ These two things the speaker compares his
love in the first stanza are red rose and melody. The speaker compares his
beloved to the young, delicate, and lovely red rose of July in the very first
stanza. In the same way, he compares his beloved to a sweet melody that is
played sweetly with a fine tune.
b. What does the speaker promise in the
second and third stanzas?
→ In the second and third stanzas, the
speaker promises that he will love his beloved until the earthly seas go dry
and the rocks melt by the heat of the sun.
c. What imagery does he use in his promise,
and why do you think he uses such language?
→ He uses hyperbolic imagery in his promises
like dry seas and melted rocks. I think he uses such language to express that his
love for his beloved is so profound and genuine.
d. In the last stanza, what event is about
to happen by mentioning the number of miles?
→ In the last stanza, temporary separation is about to happen by mentioning the number of miles. The speaker promises to return to her life after that short temporary separation though the journey is so long.
e. Which image in the poem do you find the
most memorable or surprising and why?
→Here in this poem, I find the image of
melted rocks the most memorable and surprising because this hyperbolic imagery
makes us realise his devotion of love to her is so profound and genuine.
REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT
a. What can you infer about the speaker’s
devotion to his beloved from the following lines?
And
I will come again, my love,
Tho’
it were ten thousand mile!
→ These lines are taken from the poem ‘A
Red, Red Rose’. This utterance is expressed when the speaker is in deep love
with his beloved and promises several things to her. He makes a promise to
his beloved that he will return to meet her after their temporary separation.
He promises to come back to meet her though the is so long or more than ten
thousand miles.
b. What is the theme of the poem?
→The immortal bond of love and passion as
well as feeling to it is the primary theme of this poem. In this poem he
praises the beauty of his beloved. This poem shows the idea that the
relationship of love never dies.
c. Paraphrase the whole poem into simple
prose form.
→ The poem is about the feeling of the speaker
as well as description of his beloved. In
the first stanza, the speaker compares his beloved with a red rose which blooms
in June. Similarly, he compares her like a melody that is played with tune. He
thinks her as the most beautiful woman in the world who is as sweet as melody
and as beautiful as a red rose.
d. Analyse the poem in terms of the
literary devices such as simile, symbolism, imagery, alliteration and assonance.
→ Literary devices are tools that enable the writers to
present their ideas, emotions, and feelings in an attractive way. Those devices
also help the readers to understand the inner meanings of the literary genre. In
this poem, different literary devices are used. They are simile, symbolism,
imagery, alliteration and assonance. Simile is a literary technique used to
create comparisons using like, seem, as etc. The speaker has used simile by
contrasting his beloved with a red rose and sweet melody using like. Symbolism
is a literary device that uses symbols. In this poem, the rose is the symbol of
love. By exaggeration of ideas in the poem, we find the image of his beloved. In
the same way, we can find the repetition of vowels and consonants which are alliteration
and assonance in literature. ‘O, my love is like a red red rose’ is an example
of alliteration because of the repetition of ‘r’ and ‘And I will love thee
still, my dear’, is an example of assonance because of the repetition of vowel ‘i’.
e. What is hyperbole? Explain its purpose
citing examples of hyperbole used in the poem.
→ Hyperbole is a literary technique that is used to
exaggerate the idea which is not possible in real life. In the second and third
stanza we find the use of hyperbole where the speaker claimed, “And I will
love thee still my dear, Till a’ the seas gang dry” “And the rocks
melt wi’ the sun!”, “While the sands o’ life shall run.” Here,
the speaker has exaggerated his feeling of love to his beloved.
f. What is refrain? Why is it used in the
poem? Explain citing an example from the poem.
→Refrain is a poetic device that refers to the repetition
of lines at a certain interval. It is used to emphasize something and to
produce rhythm in the poem. It is used to break up stanzas. We find refrain in
the second, third, and fourth stanzas of the poem. We can find the repetition
of the following lines in the poem.
And I will love
thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the
seas gang dry.
And fare thee weel
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Summary
“A Red, Red Rose” begins by describing the speaker`s love for a beloved with images that are beautiful but not necessarily long-lasting.
The speaker begins with an image of the beloved that emphasizes her youth and beauty, suggesting a love that is enthusiastic but likely to fade with time. Meanwhile, saying that the speaker`s love for her is like a new rose implies that this is a new relationship, with all the freshness and excitement of a developing romance. If the speaker`s love is just like a new rose, maybe it won`t last very long.
The speaker then says this love is like “a melody / That`s sweetly played in tune”. But again, instruments can go out of tune, just as flowers can fade. Then, however, the speaker goes on to emphasize how long this love will last. The speaker uses three images to measure how long these feelings of love will last: the seas going dry, the rocks melting, and the sands of life running out. It seems now that the speaker`s love, far from lasting only as long as a flower, will actually endure longer than human life.
In the final stanza, the speaker bids farewell to the beloved, as if the speaker is planning to leave on a journey. This promise implies that, just as long stretches of time could not exhaust the speaker`s love for the beloved, a long stretch of distance cannot keep the speaker from her. And the length of this journey now seems short—just “awhile”—compared to the near-infinite time the speaker`s love will last. It seems, then, that love like the speaker’s is powerful enough to make earthly obstacles (like physical distance) feel insignificant. The moment of farewell in the final stanza highlights the speaker’s core argument: love that lasts forever is also love that allows for change over time.
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