The speaker in the first three stanzas of "A Red, Red Rose" declares his love to his bonnie lass. He compares his love to a blooming rose and to a sweet melody, and he voices his commitment with hyperbole, saying he will love his lass until the seas dry up and the rocks melt. The last line of the third stanza is the first that hints at an outside world that might interfere with his ability to remain with his beloved. The phrase "sands o' life" foreshadows the last stanza, where unexpectedly the speaker bids his beloved adieu. Presumably some requirement that life places upon the man forces him to separate physically from the woman he loves. Yet their separation will only last "awhile," he assures her. He will return even if he has to travel ten thousand miles to get back to her side. Thus the tension between the speaker and the world is that some unspecified duty requires him to leave her, which he certainly does not want to do because he loves her so deeply. Whatever commitment calls him away from her, however, will be countered eventually by his undying commitment to his bonnie lass that will bring him back to her as soon as possible.
No comments:
Post a Comment