A Red, Red Rose

by ROBERT BURNS (1759-1796)

O my luve’s like a red, red rose.
That’s newly sprung in June;
O my luve’s like a melodie
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will love thee still, my Dear,
Till a’the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my Dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun:
I will luve thee still, my Dear,
While the sands o’life shall run.

And fare thee weel my only Luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!

Robert Burns wrote his first poem when he was 15 years old. The poem was called “Handsome Nell” about his first love, Nellie Blair “O once I loved a bonnie lass, Aye, and I love her still; And whilst that virtue warms my breast, I’ll love my handsome Nell.” Burns was a charming ladies’ man, and many of his famous love poems have been connected with the various women who he fell in love with and vice versa.

Robert Burns Contemporaries
William Blake
Henry Kirke White
Thomas Warton
William Cowper