"Go, Lovely Rose" by Edmund Waller

Go, lovely Rose!
Tell her that wastes her time and me
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be.	5

Tell her that’s young,
And shuns to have her graces spied,
That hadst thou sprung
In deserts, where no men abide,
Thou must have uncommended died.	10

Small is the worth
Of beauty from the light retired;
Bid her come forth,
Suffer herself to be desired,
And not blush so to be admired.	15

Then die! that she
The common fate of all things rare
May read in thee;
How small a part of time they share
That are so wondrous sweet and fair!	20

G. Thorn Drury states in the preface to his edition of Waller's poems "I have adopted, as far as practicable, the text of the edition of 1686, the last published during the poet's life. The poem text above follows Drury's edition.

Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;.
Or leave a kiss but in the cup
And I'll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise	5
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove's nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.

I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee	10
As giving it a hope that there
It could not wither'd be;
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent'st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,	15
Not of itself but thee!

Goe, happy Rose, and interwove
With other flowers, bind my love.
Tell her, too, she must not be,
Longer flowing, longer free,
That so oft has fettered me.	5

Say, if she's fretful, I have bands
Of pearl and gold, to bind her hands;
Tell her, if she struggle still,
I have myrtle rods at will,
For to tame, though not to kill.	10

Take thou my blessing thus, and goe
And tell her this, but doe not so,
Lest a handsome anger flye
Like a lightening from her eye,
And burn thee up, as well as I.	15

Study Questions

To whom is the speaker speaking?
What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?
What is the meter?
How does the rose communicate to the girl in each stanza? In what manner does the speaker entreat and suggest the rose convey his messages to her?
Imagine the girl's actions and reactions at each stanzaic injunction. What does the speaker anticipate she thinks and feels that might have prompted each responsive message?
This lyric was set to music very soon after it was written. Since then many composers have given their versions of the song. Listen to some of the performances below and notice how different musical versions and performers dramatize the story of the poem in response to different cues in the text.
From the speaker's comparisons throughout the song, how is the girl like a rose and how not?
The witty, unusual conceit characteristic of seventeenth century love poetry is evident here in Waller's song. Note that "[b]y 1600 the term as still being used as a synonym for 'thought' and as roughly equivalent to 'concept,' 'idea' and 'conception.' It might also then denote a fanciful supposition, an ingenious act of deception, or a witty or clever remark or idea. As a literary term this word has come to denote a fairly elaborate figurative device of a fanciful kind which often incorporates metaphor, simile, hyperbole or oxymoron and which is intended to surprise and delight by its wit and ingenuity" (Crawford). Waller's brilliance is not so much in having the rose as love messenger (which as you can see from several other poems above is quite common), but in how he uses the rose. Compare the rose conceit between the poems. In what way does Waller make his poem different from others' despite the overtaxed rose?

Student Name

2202234 Introduction to the Study of English Literature

Acharn Puckpan Tipayamontri

June 3, 2009

Reading Response #1

Title

Text.

Student Name

2202234 Introduction to the Study of English Literature

Acharn Puckpan Tipayamontri

September 6, 2011

Reading Response #1

Title

Links

Go, Lovely Rose , For Better for Verse, University of Virginia (text of poem with interactive tool for checking stress, feet and meter)
"Edmund Waller," Writers of the Couplet, The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Vol. 7
The Early Seventeenth Century, The Norton Anthology of English Literature

Conceit

Conceit, Encyclopaedia Britannica
Conceit, Poetry Definitions
Conceit, Literary Terms and Definitions
Conceit, Dictionary of Literary Terms

Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem, Literary Terms and Definitions
Carpe Diem: Poems for Making the Most of Time, Academy of American Poets

Metaphysical Poets and Poetry

On Metaphysical Poetry
Metaphysical Poetry
Colin Burrow, "Metaphysical Poets," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2009)
Colin Burrow, "Introduction," Metaphysical Poetry (2013)
Robert C. Evans and Eric J. Sterling, The Seventeenth-Century Literature Handbook (Literature and Carpe Diem, Metaphysical Poetry)
The Metaphysical Poets, BBC Radio 4 (2008; audio clip, 45:00 min.)

I, felix rosa, mollibusque sertis
nostri cinge comas Apollinaris;
quas tu nectere candidas, sed olim,
sic te semper aet Venus, memento.

Go, lucky rose, and with a soft garland circle the hairs of my dear Apollinaris. And when those hairs are grey (long hereafter), remember to bind them still. So may Venus always love you.

Media		Bryn Terfel, "Go, Lovely Rose," Silent Noon (2005; 2:45 min.; arranged by Roger Quilter)
		Brian Neff, "Go, Lovely Rose" (2011; arranged by Roger Quilter)
		Anthony Rolfe Johnson, "Go, Lovely Rose," The English Song Series 5 (2004)
		Go, Lovely Rose (2006; video clip, 2:41 min.; arranged by Henry Lawes; soprano: Belinda Yates; Waller's 400th birthday anniversary celebration)