“Go, Lovely Rose” by Edmund Waller Sample Analysis
(This is based on an interpretation we discussed in class but is not a definitive interpretation.)
1. The speaker of the poem is someone (likely a man though there is no specific evidence to indicate
this) who admires a woman: “When I [speaker] resemble her [woman he admires] to thee [rose], /
How sweet and fair she [woman he admires] seems to be” (4-5). The speaker compares the woman
he admires to a rose to show how kind and beautiful he perceives her to be.
2. The dramatic situation: the speaker is sending a rose as a messenger (“Go, lovely Rose, tell her
(1-2)) to tell the woman he admires, who is shy and does not like to be noticed (“Tell her that's
young,/ And shuns to have her graces spied (6-7)) she should let him admire her (“Suffer herself to
be desir’d,/ And not blush so to be admir’d” (14-15)).
Though capitalized, the rose is a flower because it would be awkward to send another woman for
comparison to show a woman’s beauty (stanza 1), and it seems unlikely the speaker would tell
another human being to “Then die” (line 16).
3. Message: Carpe diem! Beauty should be admired because it is short-lived.
“Small is the worth / Of beauty from the light retir’d” (11-12) means that beauty has little value
when hidden.
The final stanza asks the rose to die to send the message to the woman he admires:
life is short (“How small a time” (19)), especially for beauty (“sweet and fair” (20)).
4. Literary devices and how they convey meaning, mood, or tone?
a. four five-line stanzas
b. set meter (4,8,4,8,8) [note: identify the meter if you can]
c. end Rhyme: ababb cdcdd efeff bgbgg
d. personification of rose as messenger (lines 1 (capitalized to show personification), 2,
and “thee” / “thou” throughout poem)
e. imperatives (“Go” (1), “Tell” (2), “Tell” (6), “Bid” (13), “Then die (16) =>
commands to the rose to be a messenger to the woman he admires. Commanding the
rose allows him to convey a message indirectly to his honey in a polite but not
inappropriately pushy manner. (Valentine’s Day many people still use this technique.)
f. extended metaphor – Comparison of rose to the woman he admires (“When I resemble
her [woman he admires] to thee [rose]”) because they are both “sweet and fair” (5),
“rare” (17) and “wondrous” (20) and mortal (“die” (16) / “How small a part of time
they share” (19)). These similarities make the rose an effective messenger.
g. repetition of “sweet and fair” (lines 5 and 20) ties up comparison.
This formal structure (patterned stanzas, consistent meter, formal rhyme scheme) fits the
speaker’s purpose because it allows him to give the woman he admires a compliment, plea
and warning in a romantic, sophisticated manner. He is trying to impress her and to woo
her with formal, educated, refined language and literary forms. He chooses a rose as a
messenger as it has long been a romantic symbol of short-lived beauty.
5. Opinion: The poem is confusing upon first reading because “Rose” is capitalized, so it could be a
woman named Rose. Once I decided that the rose was a flower personified as a messenger, the
poem made more sense.
I liked how the poet took a cliché (life is short) and gave it new life in the form of a rose. He
created pictures with his words, for example, a rose blooming in the desert (“That hadst thou sprung
/ In deserts where no men abide” (8-9)).
Perhaps Mrs. Todd is right, and the poetry unit will help me with my love life some day! 