Ballad · Love

A Red, Red Rose

by Robert Burns · 1794

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1O my Luve is like a red, red rose

2That's newly sprung in June;

3O my Luve is like the melody

4That's sweetly played in tune.

5So fair art thou, my bonnie lass,

6So deep in luve am I;

7And I will luve thee still, my dear,

8Till a' the seas gang dry.

9Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear,

10And the rocks melt wi' the sun;

11I will luve thee still, my dear,

12While the sands o' life shall run.

13And fare thee weel, my only luve!

14And fare thee weel awhile!

15And I will come again, my luve,

16Though it were ten thousand mile.

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“A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns — quilloak.com/poems/a-red-red-rose

Quick facts

Poem: A Red, Red Rose
Poet: Robert Burns
Published: 1794
Length: 16 lines
Form: Ballad, Rhyming Poems
Themes: Love, For Her, Short

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Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 16 lines · 4 quatrains
Line length: Lines run 6-9 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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A traceable edition

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Author record: Robert Burns1759–1796
Source record: QuillOak curated editionA Red, Red Rose (1794) by robert-burns
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: 1794
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 cf7c6a722835849c…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Ballad Rhyming Poems Love For Her Short

A Red, Red Rose

Quick facts

How this poem works

A traceable edition

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