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Rabu, 01 Februari 2012

ROBERT BURNS: A RED, RED ROSE ANALYSIS




ROBERT BURNS’ LOVE STORY THAT INFLUENCES IN A RED, RED ROSE POEM

Theoretical background
A red, red rose is one of famous poem by Robert Burns, and was written to be sung. It talks about the romanticism of his “someone”. Someone here seems having a close relationship with the speaker, because he describes “The Someone” with hyperbolic and flowering words. By using the expressive approach, we assume to analyze the historical background of the poet why he wrote this poem. 
Robert Burns was born in Alloway, Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 25, 1759, to hard-working farmer parents. He began helping his father with farm work at the age of twelve. The difficulty of the labor later had a crippling effect on his health. Although Burns's formal schooling was limited, he loved to read and for a time he was tutored by John Murdoch, who thoroughly educated him in eighteenth-century English literature.  (Notable Biography)
The family worked hard on the Ayrshire farm and at several others, but their lives were never made easier. Ongoing troubles with landlords and their agents fueled the rebellion that Burns felt against authority, which later became a major theme in his poetry. In 1784 his father died, and the family moved a few miles away to Mossgiel, Scotland. Here and in the nearby town of Mauchline, Scotland, the charming and attractive Burns began numerous love affairs, some of which extended to about 1790, by the end of his short life he was to have fathered fourteen children by six different mothers.  (Notable Biography).
 This paper will analyze how the speaker makes the poem with so much romantic words and by using expressive theory what things that motivated him and his love life which affects it at all.
Analysis
            Burns was famous with his love affair; the first time he writes the love poem is when he was fifteen years old. The poem was called "Handsome Nell" and was about his first love for a girl named Nellie Blair. Throughout his life, Burns was a charming and witty man, attracting the attention of numerous women. Burns, in a later comment on this poem, stated that he had "never had the least thought or inclination of turning poet till I got once heartily in love, and then rhyme and song were, in a manner, the spontaneous language of my heart." (Online)
            From the first and second line in A Red, Red Rose says:
O my Luve’s like a red, red rose .That’s newly sprung in June.
O my Luve’s like the melodie.That’s sweetly play’d in tune .
Burns wants to symbolize his love as a single red rose; newly sprung in June means two meanings; his love begins in June or the the best moment of his affection seems like a rose which blooms its petals on spring. Why a single red rose? Not the red roses (plural)? Because he conveys his love as one and only for the woman he loves, since there is no comparison for his love towards her. Red is the expected hue of the flower, the repetition of the adjective represents the fullest and most adorable thing of the general meaning of rose.
The third and fourth line have meaning that he depicts his love as a melody, a sound which makes him “dance” and follow the tunes and always makes him feel happy. It seems like all his sorrow has gone, the beautiness of the rose makes him forget his dreadful past however music could make somebody feels better and relaxes mind even for a while.
Rose can be captured as a manifestation of a woman; the question is “who is that woman?” . Many research tell that A Red, Red Rose might have given to Jean Armour, his lovely one. In 1786, at age 27, Robert Burns went through a major turning point in his life. He suffered a disappointing love affair with Jean Armour, who was pregnant with his twin sons. The local community and Armour's father were outraged by the affair and her father rejected Burns's offer of marriage. (Online)
Depressed, Burns made plans to leave Scotland and sail to Jamaica in the West Indies. To finance the trip, Burns submitted a volume of his poetry for publication. The publication of 612 copies in a simple, unbound volume was called "Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect," also sometimes known as "The Kilmarnock Edition." The poems were well received in Edinburgh by socialites who were enchanted by the poems and amazed that a poor farmer could write so well.
Instead of planning his escape to a new world, Burns planned a trip to Edinburgh. His confident manner, and his intelligence brought Burns popularity and admiration. Soon, a second publication of his work was executed in Edinburgh. During his live in Edinburgh, Robert Burns met printer James Johnson, who planned a project to print all of the folk songs in Scotland. This project forces Burns and embarked upon a journey throughout Scotland to collect as many folk songs as possible. Burns collected over 300 songs and wrote a few themselves, including "A Red, Red Rose."
Those are written in the fifth until ninth lines:
As fair art thou, my bonnie lass,  So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my Dear, Till a’ the seas gang dry.
“ As fair as thou” means that he captures Jean as a clearly and bright creature, enlightens him so everything seems exciting. “My Bonnie lass”, means the good last or th last good for him, although he has many affairs and maybe he cheats from Jean, but at that time the speaker was so deeply in love with her.
And I will luve thee still, my Dear, means he will always love his darling even the distance separates them. We know that Burns had his first journey to Jamaica but he keeps his feeling still to Jean Armour, the sense of both affection remains him so much.  Till a’ the seas gang dry, he will always be into her until the seas going dry or the end comes to him by.
Till a’ the seas gang dry, my Dear.
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun.
And I will luve thee still, my Dear,
We can see the repeatation of those lines Till a’ the seas gang dry, my Dear. And I will luve thee still, my Dear, means that he convinces his deep desire towards Jean, assures her to lock their love inside.  And the rocks melt wi’ the sun, has a mean that his journey to another world has no meaning, the speaker is suffocated because of he must leave his love behind.
While the sands o’ life shall run.
And fare thee weel, my only Luve!
   And fare thee weel, awhile!
And I will come again, my Luve,           
   Tho’ it were ten thousand mile!
O’ life shall run in the line eleven means that he proebly regrets his journey to Jamaica because he thinks he does not deserve a treatment like he got from Jean Armour’s father. Fare thee weel means that how far he goes or she goes that only counts a temporary distance, just for a while for say. And he promises to his own love that he would come back for a good reason and better future.
Conclusion
            One of the most famous songs that Robert Burns wrote for this project and first published in 1794 was "A Red, Red Rose." Burns wrote it as a traditional ballad, four verses of four lines each. It begins with a quatrain containing two similes. Burns compares his love with a springtime blooming rose and then with a sweet melody. These are popular poetic images and this is the stanza most commonly quoted from the poem.
            This poem is originally dedicated forthe speaker’s dearest woman in life, even though he gets many lover in his whole years but the speakers was truly deep in love when he made A Red, Red Rose. Her name is  Jean Armour, a native Scottish woman, whose affection and charmness will have made addiction to Robert Burns. Since her father was furious of the author, they had to separated their pure love in distance. But far away the speaker goes through the ocean, he keeps his feeling still.
            Another happy outcome of this turning point in Robert Burns's life is that he was able to return home and marry his beloved Jean Armour, now with the blessing of her family. Maybe it is because she born twin sons and the speaker finally finds his better future, and proves that he is not a poor man anymore. That is why this poem is very popular; because of the sad story of true love and it is hidden by the vigorous words which talk about the veracity of faithful love.  
References
Perrine, Laurence. Sound and Sense: A Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns (page 111). New York: Harcourt, Brace, & World, Inc.
Robert Burns Biography - life, family, children, parents, death, wife, book, old, information, born http://www.notablebiographies.com/Br-Ca/Burns-Robert.html#ixzz1JsNwB4JZ
http://languageisavirus.com/articles/writing/poetry/20126.php

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