Poetic form

What is a Roses Are Red Poems?

Definition

'Roses are red, violets are blue' is a four-line valentine template first printed in Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784), with roots in a 1590 stanza by Edmund Spenser.

The most famous poem template in English has a surprisingly respectable pedigree. Edmund Spenser planted the seed in The Faerie Queene (1590) — 'She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew' — and the nursery rhyme bloomed in print in Gammer Gurton's Garland (1784): 'The rose is red, the violet's blue, / The honey's sweet, and so are you.' Two centuries of valentines later, the opening couplet is pre-installed in every English speaker's head.

That's exactly why it became a meme engine. The fixed setup — roses are red, violets are blue — buys you the world's most reliable straight line, and lines three and four are yours to spend: a sincere compliment, an absurd swerve, or a roast with a bow on it. The form is an ABCB quatrain, so only lines two and four need to rhyme, and even that rule exists mostly to be broken for the punchline.

Structure of a roses are red poems

A quatrain rhyming ABCB: only lines 2 and 4 need to rhyme
Lines 1-2 are the fixed setup: 'Roses are red, violets are blue'
Lines 3-4 are yours: the compliment, the joke, or the twist
Line 4 traditionally rhymes with 'blue' — though breaking the rhyme is its own punchline

How to write a roses are red poems

Decide the mode first: sincere (a real compliment), funny (a swerve), or savage (a roast with a bow on it).
Brainstorm 'blue' rhymes — you, true, new, clue, overdue — and pick the freshest one.
For comedy, play line 3 straight and break the pattern in line 4; the defied expectation is the joke.
For sincerity, make line 3 specific to your person — the template is generic, so the detail is what shines.

15 roses are red poems examples

Classic and original roses are red poems poems, free to read in full.

Roses Are Red (And Violets Aren't Blue)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, violets are — no.Violets are violet. I checked. It's so.This poem's been fibbing since 1784,

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (Pizza Edition)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, marinara is too;I ordered a large just to split it with you.Some people want sonnets, the moon, or the weather —

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (The Wifi Is Down)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, the wifi is dead,the router's unplugged at the foot of the bed.No streaming, no scrolling, no feed to refresh —

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (Yes, It's Another One of These)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, this format is tired,I had until midnight; a poem was required.But cliché or not, every word here is true:

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (For Her, Who Hates Mornings)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, the kettle is on,you're grumpy and gorgeous each day before dawn;and I'd give up sunrises, gladly, forever,

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (But They Fade in a Day)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, but they fade in a day;the chocolates get eaten, the cards thrown away.So here is the one gift that time won't undo:

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (For the One Who Steals the Blankets)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, my feet are like ice,you've stolen the duvet — not once, dear, but twice;yet I'd shiver forever, frostbitten and blue,

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (For the Man Who Fixes Things)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red. The stair doesn't squeak,the door doesn't stick — you fixed both this week.Some men declare love with a speech or a song;

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (His Hand Finds Mine)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, your hand finds my handin crowds, in the car, without thought, without plan;and that, more than roses, is how I stay sure:

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (You're Hopeless at Dancing)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, you're hopeless at dancing,but somehow you're great at this whole romancing:you remember my coffee, my mother, my dreams —

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (The Dog Ate My First Draft)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, violets are blue,my hamster can't read, so this poem's for you.I wrote it in marker, I spelled it all right,

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (Broccoli's Green)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, broccoli's green,and I have a question (don't shout, don't be mean):if flowers are plants, and my veggies are too,

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (A Toast in Eight Lines)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, the aisle has been walked,the rings have been fumbled, the toasts have been talked;now comes the part that the cameras won't see:

8 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (I Would Still Pick You)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, as they were at the start,when I practiced your name and rehearsed every part;the petals have changed, but the question stays true:

4 lines · roses are red

Roses Are Red (A Toast to My Worst Best Friend)

The QuillOak Editors

Roses are red, your advice is the worst,you laugh at my downfalls (and always laugh first);but when it all crumbled, you showed up by nine

4 lines · roses are red

Common questions

Who wrote the original Roses Are Red poem?

No single author. The familiar nursery rhyme first appeared in Gammer Gurton's Garland in 1784, echoing lines Edmund Spenser wrote in The Faerie Queene in 1590.

What is the original Roses Are Red poem?

The 1784 version runs: 'The rose is red, the violet's blue, / The honey's sweet, and so are you.' The modern wording settled in over the following century.

What is the rhyme scheme of Roses Are Red?

ABCB — only the second and fourth lines rhyme ('blue' / 'you'), which is why line 4 is the only one you really have to land.