The Poem- Red, Red Rose/ My Love is like a Red, Red Rose ( Both are commonly used ) by Robert Burns
Written in Scots in 1794

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

Questions and Answers

1.How are the figurative language used in the poem? Give the specific word(s), explain what type of figurative language it is and why the poet chose to use this figurative language?

He says that he will love her until the seas dry up, rocks melt in the sun, and all the sands of time run out. It means that he will love her forever. Robert Burns uses this to describe how long his will love the girl.

Symbol: The title itself is a very common example of symbolization. The red rose stands for deep, passionate love. He emphasises on this, saying red, red rose, instead of the common rose or just red rose.

In line 1 & 3, the speaker directly compares his love with a rose and a melody using "like". These are examples of similes.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ref:

"O my Luve's like the melodie"

"O my Luve's like a red, red rose"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hyperbole: There are over-statements here to show the depth of love; those are hyperbolic statements. Lines 7-8, 9-10, 15-16 are examples of hyperboles:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ref:

"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:"

"And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Metaphor and Emphasis: Burns' poem is charmingly simple and direct in its method of praising his lover and most significantly describes how much he loves her: "As fair art, thou my bonny lass/So deep in luve I am."

He then tells her how much he loves her:

"I will luve thee still, my Dear,

While the sands o'life shall run."

"Sands o' life" in line 12 is a metaphor, since here life is implicitly compared with the sand-clock, where every moment of life is like the every drop of sand in the clock.The implication is that he will love her forever, that is, infinity. As long as human life exists on this earth he will love her. Burns uses hyperbole, that is, exaggeration to convey to his lover the depth and intensity of his love for her. In the previous lines,

"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:"

he has told her that he will love her till all the seas dry up, and the rocks melt from the heat of the sun. But he is not satisfied with that, because he feels that there is a possibility that all the seas may indeed dry up, or the rocks might melt from heat so he says that he will love her till all human life comes to an end on the planet. Also, he is emphasising his love for her with this line continuing his description of his love.

It is this hyperbole which foregrounds the extent and nature of his love.

Parallelism: In the first stanza, the first two lines are parallel to the second two lines. The parallelism is connected to the poet's intensity of feeling.

Ref:

"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."

Repetition: The phrases "Till a' the seas gang dry" in line 8-9 and "And fair thee well" in line 13-14 are uttered twice. The repetitions emphasise the speaker's expression. Thus the theme of love gets foregrounded.

Euphony: The words used in the poem are mostly very soft to the ear, and they sound very pleasant. Consequently, a melodious tune is created which is related to the theme of the poem.

2.Tell us why you like this poem in no less than 100 words.

This poem is charmingly simple and direct in its method of praising his lover, and sounds sincere and convincing. The imagery in the poem is so vivid that even today, this old traditional poem is still very popular. I also like the fact that the excessive use of hyperbole, passionate sentimental similes and a strong love metaphor in the title, while seeming insincere and a little weird to actually say to someone, they are actually quite common in poetry, although in Burns's it is more than usual, it is quite acceptable. Figurative language is meant to be taken figuratively, not literally or word for word, and in Burns’ it actually makes the poem seem more sincere, rather than insincere, as in some other poems. ( Word Count: 124 Words )

Using hyperbole, the poet ignores the commonplace implications of the simile of female beauty to a flower and makes it more emphatic and dramatic. for example that roses fade and so young maidens should make the most of their youthful energy and give themselves to their lovers immediately.