A Red, Red Rose

The poem “A Red, Red Rose” can essentially be broken into two halves. In the first half, the speaker describes his love for his “bonnie lass” (Line 5). However, the second half elaborates on the extent and longevity of this love. As discussed in the “Symbols” section of this guide, all of the different descriptions share the same theme. The speaker states that he will love his “dear” (Line 7) until “a’ the seas gang dry” (Line 8) and until “the rocks melt wi’ the sun” (Line 10). His love and devotion will remain “[w]hile the sands o’ life shall run” (Line 12). All of these descriptions convey that love lasts forever, as oceans will never dry up, rocks will never melt in sunlight, and sand will never run out. Similarly, in the last line of the poem, the speaker tells his beloved that they will be reunited “[t]hough it were ten thousand mile” (Line 16). This exaggerated distance again demonstrates the extremity of the speaker’s love. No matter what, he will make his way back to his beloved, and his love will never end or run dry.