A Red, Red Rose

Since the significance of the rose and music are addressed in the “Poem Analysis” of this guide, this section expounds on some of the other symbolism in Burns’s poem. When the speaker professes his love for his beloved, he hyperbolically states that he will love her “[t]ill a’ the seas gang dry” (Line 8). The seas represent vastness and endlessness. Their depths are unexplored and unknowable. This symbolizes the inexhaustible devotion and passion the speaker feels for his beloved. When the speaker claims he will love his “bonnie lass” (Line 5) until the oceans go dry, he is expressing an impossibility. Barring catastrophe, there will always be weather patterns to create rain to refill the seas. Currents will always move water from one ocean to another. If the speaker will love his “dear” (Line 7) until all the seas dry up, then he will be loving her forever. The phrase “Till ‘a the seas gang dry” appears twice in the poem, once in Line 8 and once in Line 9. This repetition, this anaphora, emphasizes the speaker’s sentiment. When it comes to his passion for his beloved, its duration is immeasurable.