Go, Lovely Rose - Poem Analysis

Summary

In this Try Tutors video, the poem 'Go Lovely Rose' by Edmund Waller is explored, highlighting its themes of love, beauty, and the fleeting nature of time. Waller uses the rose as a symbol to convey his message of seizing the day, urging the woman he admires to appreciate her beauty before it fades. The analysis delves into the poem's structure, including its rhyme scheme and the use of imperatives, revealing a calculated argument behind the passionate tone. The video aims to help viewers understand the poem's context, emotional depth, and the poet's historical background, encouraging them to appreciate the art of lyric poetry.

Takeaways

• 📜 'Go, Lovely Rose' is a lyric poem by Edmund Waller, known for its emotion and musicality.
• 🎭 Edmund Waller was an English poet and a member of parliament, with a history involving conspiracy and exile.
• 🌹 The rose in the poem symbolizes love, beauty, romance, and fragility, highlighting the theme of time running out.
• 💌 The speaker sends the rose as a gift to a woman he desires, hoping it will persuade her to reciprocate his feelings.
• 🗣️ Apostrophe is used in the poem, where the speaker addresses the rose as if it could communicate with the woman.
• 🎶 The poem features alliteration, assonance, and a rhyme scheme (a b a b b), contributing to its lyrical quality.
• 📝 Each stanza of the poem gives the rose instructions on what to convey to the woman, drawing comparisons to her beauty.
• 🕊️ The poem suggests that beauty is wasted if unappreciated, likening the woman's beauty to a rose that dies unnoticed.
• 🌅 The final stanza emphasizes the fleeting nature of beauty and the urgency to seize the moment, with a dramatic pause indicated by an exclamation mark.
• 📚 The poem's themes include seizing the day (Carpe diem), obsession, infatuation, time, mortality, and the celebration of physical beauty.
• 📉 The mood is passionate, and the tone varies from brazen and assertive to confident and, at times, slightly threatening.

Q & A

Who is the poet Edmund Waller?

Edmund Waller was an English poet born in 1606 and died in 1687. He was known for writing lyric poems filled with emotion and musicality and was also a member of parliament from a young age. He was involved in a conspiracy, exiled, and narrowly avoided the death sentence.

What is the main theme of the poem 'Go, Lovely Rose'?

The main theme of 'Go, Lovely Rose' is the celebration of beauty and the concept of seizing the day. The poem uses the rose as a symbol to represent love, beauty, romance, and fragility, emphasizing the transient nature of beauty and the importance of appreciating it before it fades.

What is the significance of the rose in the poem?

The rose in the poem symbolizes love, beauty, and romance, but also represents fragility and mortality, as roses are known to die quickly after being harvested. This symbolizes the theme of running out of time and the need to appreciate beauty while it lasts.

What literary device is used when the speaker addresses the rose as if it were a person?

The literary device used when the speaker addresses the rose as if it were a person is called apostrophe. This figure of speech personifies the rose, giving it the ability to communicate and carry a message to the woman the speaker admires.

What is the purpose of the speaker sending the rose to the woman in the poem?

The speaker sends the rose to the woman as a gift and a message. He hopes that through the rose, he can convey his admiration and desire to be with her, and that the rose's beauty and transient nature will convince her to seize the moment and reciprocate his feelings.

What is the structure of the poem 'Go, Lovely Rose'?

The structure of 'Go, Lovely Rose' includes a rhyme scheme of a b a b b, with alternating short and long lines that rhyme together. The poem uses imperatives to create a commanding and demanding tone, reflecting the speaker's calculated argument for why the woman should be with him.

What is the tone of the poem?

The tone of the poem is passionate, brazen, blunt, assertive, confident, and at times, frustrated and threatening. The speaker's tone reflects his strong desire and the urgency of his message.

What is the mood of the poem?

The mood of the poem is one of infatuation and lust, with an undercurrent of frustration due to the woman's apparent rejection of the speaker's advances.

What is the message the speaker hopes the woman will understand from the dying rose?

The speaker hopes that when the woman sees the rose die, she will understand the mortality of her own beauty and be motivated to seize the moment, appreciating and acting on her beauty while it is still vibrant.

How does the poem use repetition to emphasize its themes?

The poem uses repetition of phrases like 'sweet and fair' and 'how small a part of time' to emphasize the transient nature of beauty and the urgency to appreciate it. This repetition creates cohesion and reinforces the poem's themes.

What is the significance of the poem's title 'Go, Lovely Rose'?

The title 'Go, Lovely Rose' is significant as it sets the stage for the poem's narrative. It introduces the rose as the messenger and the central symbol, and the imperative 'Go' reflects the speaker's command for the rose to carry his message to the woman.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Introduction to 'Go, Lovely Rose' by Edmund Waller

This paragraph introduces the poem 'Go, Lovely Rose' by Edmund Waller, providing historical context about the poet, born in 1606 and a member of parliament who faced exile and a death sentence. Waller is known for his lyric poems characterized by emotion and musicality. The poem uses the rose as a symbol of love, beauty, and romance, but also as a symbol of fragility and mortality, reflecting the theme of time running out. The speaker in the poem sends a rose to a woman he admires, hoping to persuade her through the beauty and message of the rose.

05:02

🌹 The Rose as a Symbol and the Speaker's Argument

In this paragraph, the speaker of the poem uses the rose to convey his message to a woman he desires. He employs an apostrophe to personify the rose, giving it the ability to communicate his feelings. The rose is instructed to tell the woman that her beauty is being wasted if it is not appreciated, using an anecdote of a rose in the desert to illustrate the point. The speaker argues that beauty needs to be acknowledged and celebrated, and that the woman should accept being desired and admired for her beauty.

10:03

🕰 The Imperative of Beauty's Appreciation and Mortality

The final paragraph delves into the themes of time and mortality, emphasizing the transient nature of beauty. The speaker uses the rose to communicate the urgency of seizing the moment, suggesting that the woman's beauty, like the rose, will eventually fade. He employs a dramatic tone, with a pause indicated by an exclamation mark, to stress the importance of the message. The poem concludes with a reflection on the brief time we have to appreciate the beauty of roses and people, urging the woman to act while her beauty is at its peak.

📝 Poetic Structure and Themes

This paragraph discusses the poem's structure, including its rhyme scheme (a b a b b) and the alternating rhythm of short and long lines. The use of imperatives highlights the speaker's commanding and calculated argument. The themes of 'Carpe diem' (seize the day), obsession, infatuation, and the mortality of physical beauty are explored. The mood is passionate, and the tone ranges from brazen and assertive to confident and, at times, threatening. The poem is presented as a one-sided message from the speaker to the woman, with an uncertain outcome.

Keywords

💡Edmund Waller

Edmund Waller was an English poet born in 1606 and known for writing lyric poems filled with emotion and musicality. His work 'Go, Lovely Rose' is one of his more famous pieces, which the video script discusses in detail. Waller's historical background, including his involvement in a conspiracy and exile, provides context for understanding the themes in his poetry.

💡Lyric Poem

A lyric poem is a form of poetry that is typically short, expressive, and often set to music. In the context of the video, 'Go, Lovely Rose' by Edmund Waller is described as a lyric poem, characterized by its emotional depth and musical quality, which is a key aspect of the poem's appeal and Waller's style.

💡Rose

In the poem, the rose is a central symbol representing love, beauty, and romance. It also symbolizes fragility and the theme of running out of time, as roses are mortal and die quickly after being harvested. The speaker in the poem uses the rose to communicate with a woman he admires, drawing comparisons between the rose and the woman to convey his message.

💡Apostrophe

Apostrophe is a figure of speech where an inanimate object or abstract concept is addressed as if it were a person. In the script, the poet uses apostrophe to give the rose the ability to communicate, emphasizing the rose's power to persuade the woman in the poem, which is a key technique in conveying the poem's message.

💡Metaphor

A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using 'like' or 'as'. In the video script, the metaphor is used when the rose is compared to the woman the speaker desires, highlighting different aspects of the rose to draw parallels with the woman's beauty and the fleeting nature of that beauty.

💡Courtship

Courtship refers to the process of wooing someone, often with the intention of marriage. The video discusses the old-fashioned idea of courtship, where the speaker sends a rose as a gift to the woman he admires, hoping to convince her to reciprocate his feelings, which is a central theme in the poem.

💡Alliteration

Alliteration is a literary device where the same sound or letter is repeated at the beginning of closely connected words. The script mentions alliteration in the line 'when I resemble her to thee', adding to the lyrical nature of the poem and enhancing its musicality.

💡Assonance

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words for a musical or rhyming effect. The script points out assonance in the words 'sweet' and 'seems', contributing to the poem's lyrical and musical quality, which is a significant aspect of Waller's lyric poetry.

💡Seize the Day

Seize the Day, or 'Carpe Diem' in Latin, is a theme that encourages making the most of the present time. The video script interprets the poem's message as a call to the woman to seize the moment and be with the speaker while her beauty is at its peak, reflecting the theme of time and mortality.

💡Mortality

Mortality refers to the quality of being subject to death. In the context of the poem, the speaker emphasizes the mortality of beauty, suggesting that it is fleeting and will fade over time. This theme is used to persuade the woman to act on her beauty while it lasts.

💡Rhyme Scheme

A rhyme scheme is the pattern of end rhymes in a poem. The script describes the poem's rhyme scheme as 'a b a b b', indicating a structured pattern that contributes to the poem's musicality and the speaker's calculated argument for why the woman should be with him.

💡Imperatives

Imperatives are verb forms that express commands. The speaker in the poem uses imperatives to give instructions to the rose, such as 'Go, Lovely Rose' and 'Tell her', creating a commanding and assertive tone that is part of the poem's persuasive strategy.

Highlights

Introduction to the poem 'Go Lovely Rose' by Edmund Waller.

Edmund Waller's historical context as an English poet and member of parliament.

Waller's involvement in a conspiracy and his eventual exile.

Waller's reputation for writing lyric poems filled with emotion and musicality.

The significance of the rose as a symbol of love, beauty, romance, and fragility in the poem.

The poem's theme of running out of time and the speaker's desire to be with the woman he admires.

Use of apostrophe and personification to give the rose the ability to communicate.

The speaker's commanding instruction to the rose to persuade the woman of his affection.

The poem's structure with a rhyme scheme of a b a b b and its calculated argument.

The use of imperatives to emphasize the speaker's commanding and demanding tone.

The poem's exploration of themes such as beauty, time, mortality, and the fleeting nature of physical attractiveness.

The speaker's dramatic plea for the woman to seize the moment and accept his affection before her beauty fades.

The poem's mood of passion and the speaker's brazen, assertive, and at times, threatening tone.

The poem's portrayal of a one-sided courtship where the woman's perspective is not known.

The video's guidance on how to unpack scene poetry questions and strategies for IB paper one.

Encouragement for viewers to like, subscribe, and watch more educational content on the channel.

Transcripts

hello and welcome to another try tutors

video in today's video we're going to be

unpacking the poem go a lovely rose by

Edmund Waller

so a little bit of information about our

poet this is always important so we can

understand the

um poem and its message in context

Edward Boller was born in 1606 and he

died in 1687. he was an English poet and

he was a member of parliament from quite

a young age

he was involved in a conspiracy and

eventually exiled after avoiding the

death sentence so if you're interested

in an interesting historical story I

would definitely advise that you read up

on this on this man and he is known for

writing Lyric poems so they're filled

with emotion and musicality and go

lovely rose as one of his more famous

ones and it definitely includes that

emotion and musicality

go lovely rose Tallow that wastes her

time in me that now she knows when I

resemble her to see how sweet and fair

she seems to be

so before we even get into it let's talk

a little bit about context do a little

bit about what we're dealing with in

this poem so firstly the symbol of the

Rose is very important in this poem a

rose represents love beauty and romance

but we also know that roses can present

represent fragility because they will

die

um they are mortal and they are going to

die quite quickly after you you harvest

them and this is going to show this this

theme of running out of time so in this

poem the speaker is talking to this Rose

and because he's sending this Rose to

this woman who has seemingly rejected

his advances in the past and who he

really wants to be with so he's sending

this Rose as a gift but also to send a

message to the speaker no to the to the

um to the recipient the speaker saying

the message to the recipient or to this

woman that he admires and he wants to be

with

um and he's going to basically give the

rose instructions in every single stanza

on what it should be saying to the to

the woman that he's interested in so

every single stanza he's going to

highlight a different aspect of the Rose

and he's going to draw comparisons

between the rows and the women that he

desires and he hopes that through this

gift of the rose that the woman will be

convinced to go back with him

so it's a bit of an old-fashioned idea

of courtship

um so just keep that in mind so it is

slightly different to what we would

expect these days I would say

so go lovely rose we start off that

first line of repetition of the title

and he is starting with the verb

actually the first two lines he starts

with the verbs he's giving this

commanding instruction he's demanding of

the Rose

um and he uses something called

apostrophe this is a figure of speech

apostrophe

apostrophe is when you address an

inanimate object as though it is

um a human being right so he's talking

to the Rose as though he's talking to a

human being

personification in there as well because

it's giving the rose the ability to

communicate through this apostrophe he's

basically giving us the impression that

the Roses has the ability to communicate

and to speak all these different things

um and so through this apostrophe he's

giving he's emphasizing the Roses power

which he hopes that the rose is going to

have this power to persuade this woman

to be with him

tell her that wastes her time in me he

says this Rose must go and tell this

woman that she is wasting her time and

she's also wasting my time

that now she knows here we have

alliteration there so that adds to the

lyrical nature of this poem when I

resemble her to thee so when I compare

she's going to see the comparison

between the rose and herself so there we

have the metaphor the roses being

compared to the woman or the woman is

being compared to the Rose

how sweet and fair she seems to be sweet

and fair we're going to see that

repeated later on he thinks that she is

beautiful and

um he wants to be with her but this she

seems to be perhaps the speaker

references here that he doesn't know the

woman all too well

um maybe she he thinks she's sweet and

fair but please with her to stop wasting

birth at their time so that they can get

to know each other more

um notice the assonance sweet and seams

that's also creating that sort of

lyrical and musical effect

so in the stanza we're going to break

down per stanza why the speaker thinks

that the woman should be with him stands

a one because of her beauty she's very

beautiful she should not waste her time

and she should not waste his time and

she should be with the speaker

stands at two

tell her that's young and chance to have

her grace as spied that had a style

sprung in deserts where Noah man abide

thou must have uncommented died

so over here he is going to once again

command the rows you can see tell he's

demanding the rows and the woman that he

is sending the rose to

um and he's he uses this anecdote or

this imagery or this little story where

he says imagine that you have this rose

that has like this rose that I'm

presenting you it has sprung up in the

middle of the desert but there's no one

to actually watch it or to notice or

appreciate this Rose's Beauty and he

says for then this Rose is just going to

uncommend it die it's just going to die

and appreciate it does her beauty even

exist

means persistently ignored to have a

Grace of fight mean to have her beauty

observed so if someone is going to

consistently reject to have their beauty

appreciated and this is the

representation of the speaker's

perspective of beauty

um he says dislike this beautiful rose

that sprung up in the desert no men

where no men abide meaning we know

people are present to see it and so it

has died uncommended has died without

receiving any praise

so this anecdote of the beautiful

flowers spring up in the empty or ice in

a desert with no one to witness or

admire the beauty the speaker relates

that her beauty is wasted if no men are

around it to appreciate it so he says if

you don't have your beauty appreciated

then it's like it doesn't even exist at

all then it's uncommended died it's

nothing so the second stanza what's his

reasoning for the fact that the woman

should be with him was that she's very

beautiful but if her beauty does not go

appreciated then you know is it really

Beauty at all

smallest the worth of Beauty from the

light retired but her Comfort suffer

herself to be desired and not blush so

to be admired in this stanza the speaker

saying that he should be that the woman

should be with him because she should be

proud of her beauty so going off from

the previous stanza he's like if your

beauty is not appreciated then sort of

what's the point he says rather you

should be proud of your beauty so he

says beauty is nothing unless if it's

appreciated and to him being appreciated

means that it's in the spotlight that

it's admired by men

he says bid her comfort so now he goes

sort of back to his mission he uses the

verb again he's like being commanding

um so he tells the rose to make the

woman come forward

suffer herself to be desired so at first

he says she might suffer she may

struggle with this idea that she should

be desired but she must just accept it

you know suffer herself to be desired it

may be a challenge at first but then she

must get over it and she must accept

being desired this is what the speaker's

saying and not blush so to be admired he

says she should not

um be ashamed of her beauty she should

bask and be proud she should bask in the

compliments and be proud of her beauty

um not recede from it

then the last stanza where he gets even

more dramatic he says then die that she

is a common fate of all things rare May

read in the theme how small a part of

time they share that are so wondrous

sweet and fair

so in this stanza he is going to

basically communicate this idea that

Beauty has a shelf life and he says the

final reason why the woman should be

with him is because you are going to

lose all your beauty soon you'll die

like everything else but also your

beauty will die your beauty will fade so

sort of seize the moment and be with me

now while your beauty is still

long-lasting

then die this is the instruction to the

Rose and to the woman perhaps the

potential lover and he tells the rose to

die and we have this exclamation mark in

the middle of the line so that's an

example of sejura when there's this very

dramatic pause in the middle of a line

and that exclamation mark indicates the

demanding nature and the frustrated tone

of the speaker

notice the enjoyment in the first two

lines that she the common fate of all

things rare and this in German the run

on lines emphasizes how time is passing

right the clock is ticking your beauty

is fading

the common fate of all things rare this

is such a wonderful line I think because

there's a little bit of a contradiction

because you talk about a common

and then rare but what he means this is

like the fundamental message of the poem

is he says all beautiful things die so

he hopes that when the woman sees the

Rose die she will understand the

mortality of her own Beauty and will be

motivated to seek the speaker May read

in thee meaning that hopefully when she

sees you die when she sees the Rose die

she's going to come to terms with this

idea and she's going to figure out that

she needs to make the best of the beauty

while she has it

and then the last two lines it's sort of

this general statement where he sums

everything up he says how small a part

of time they share that are so wondrous

sweet and fair so he talks about the

qualities of roses and the qualities of

the woman's Beauty he says you have

limited time to experience their beauty

and you see sweet and fair repeated from

the first stanza so the sort of cohesion

to the piece

so in terms of the structure do we have

a rhyme scheme a b a b b we have a

regular rhythm the lines alternate we

have short and long lines all the short

lines rhyme and then the long lines

rhyme together there's a lot of use of

imperatives as well where he's being

very commanding and demanding the

structured nature of the poem emphasizes

that the speaker is making a calculated

argument it is a lyric poem but he is

making this argument to the it's very

well thought out it's not just a typical

love poem in the sense of you know if

you think of some love poems which is

just free verse where he's just like

expressing his love no he's making a

calculated argument as to why this woman

should be with him and so therefore we

have a very structured

um the structure is quite structured and

precise and calculated

the um theme and the message seize the

day or you can call it Carpe diems sees

the day Obsession infatuation and lust

time and mortality our Beauty should be

celebrated and how it is Mortal that it

does fade and physical beauty is also

very much a key theme the mood is quite

passionate the tone is brazen blunt

assertive confident frustrated and the

Last Dance a little bit threatening so

depending on where you are what lines

you are referencing you can use

different words to really unpack that

um it's definitely a one-sided poem in

the sense that we don't know what the

woman's all about or you know we don't

know much history but all we know is

that the speaker is sending this message

of the Rose in an attempt to convince

the woman to be with him we don't know

if he's successful or not with this

strategy

I hope that you found that video helpful

in terms of your understanding on the

poem

um please remember to watch my video on

how to unpack scene poetry questions and

I even have a video on IB paper one just

going through all of the different

techniques or all the different

strategies I would advise when you're

attempting a three-hour paper

please like this video And subscribe to

the channel and I'll see you the next

one