|
The untitled poem which begins "Roses are red..." has elements of deep meaning, disguised in sophomoric verbatim, and though it would appear to be a simple, obvious and almost immature poem, it is actually quite rich in texture and complex in theme.
The poem, as recited in class by the instructor, author unknown, is as follows:
The poem first refers to flowers, a very simple form of life, and thus, suggests the poem is simple itself. But not just any flower will do here. 'Roses', among other things, suggests rising, as in, "Here arises my feeling." This is a brilliant introduction. 'Violets' suggest violence, foreshadowing the violent change that the meaning of the poem will take.
'Red' and 'Blue', too, are necessary as a color choice. This dichotomy suggest America, i.e. equality, justice, righteousness, correctness, opportunity, and freedom. The narrorator is justifying his feelings with these positive images.
'Sugar' is an ingredient in cooking. The narrorator is suggesting that the subject of the poem ('You') is integral to his life, or at least a necessary aspect, without which his life would not be 'Sweet'.
Furthermore, the word 'Sweet' is strong for several reasons. 'Sweet' is metaphoric of character, as in the phrase, "He left a bad taste in my mouth." But here the taste is good. Yet, recall that the tongue can sense sweetness, and the nose cannot. Still, the nose is considered a "wiser" sense. ("A nose for news," "Nose to the grindstone," "He has his father's nose," "Nobody nose the trouble I've seen," etc.) Therefore, the narrorator is less wise in his liking of 'You', further foreshadowing the meaning change.
The word 'So' is necessary in the final line, suggesting "Sew", as if the next word "st čitches" the entire poem together.
'Is' in the final line is a grammatical error, and the crux of the poem. It is disguised by the previous line's 'Is', and its deep meaning is hidden by the descent into simplicity from the two 'Are's in lines one and two towards the final 'Is's. This descent also conveys the contrast between the plural 'Are's and the singular 'Is's. Furthermore, the realizations afforded by this final 'Is' are juxtaposed nicely against the obvious truth in line three, "Sugar is sweet'.
That we as readers are to understand the explosive change in meaning caused by the grammatically incorrect 'Is' is suggested by the halting feel of the pronunciation of 'Sweet' in line three, and the rushing continuation in the pronunciation of 'And' in line four.
This 'Is', then, destroys all the tenets previously established, in much the same way the Egyptian goddess Isis, who's name is constructed out of "Is"s, destroyed the heretics for disparaging the pharaohs (i.e. by not cal čling them "sweet".) The narrorator's unconscious is screaming that 'You' (italics mine) are not 'Sweet', are not integral; indeed, the complexity "arises" (recall "rising" in 'Roses') in the conflict between what the narrorator believes to be his thoughts and what his true feelings actually are to be. This is a brilliant exposition on the theme "Man versus himself", with the chaotic emotion Love standing against the ordered nature of the poem, i.e. the ABCB rime scheme, and the four syllables per line.
The final word 'You' sums up and further justifies the poem. It suggests "Ewe", a female sheep, so that the subject of the poem is female, and the narrorator is thus male, bolstering the "violence" of 'Violet'. Also, sheep are docile and timid, disguising the poem's complex nature once again in simplicity. 'You' suggests, too, "U", the recognized abbreviation for "university", a place where learning, i.e realization, occurs, and also the twenty-first letter of the alphabet, twenty-one Ubeing the coming-of-age year for most "Americans" (recall 'Red' and 'Blue') and thus indicating a maturing, or realization, bolstering "rising" in 'Roses', and finally overcoming the "immature" sense of the tongue in 'Sweet'
Therefore and hence it would thus appear the overt simplicity of the poem which begins "Roses are red..." is nothing more than the disguise of reason and indeed, logic, that the narrorator unconsciously places on the truth of his feelings. Obviously, the disguise is not a perfect one, lest the reader be fooled forever, and the misuse of grammer is that very chink which affords the glimpse into the poem's true meaning. That one would even desire to find the true meaning of such a silly little bit of writing is the very science of poetry. It would seem, then, no poem should be taken for granted, not even by its writer.
|