Roses Are Red(1784?)
Anonymous
Note on line 4:This simply famous lyric has only one trick up its prosodic sleeve, but that’s all it needs. Each of the first 3 lines, identical in syntax, scans in palindromic symmetry – one trochee, one iamb – with the latter exerting its customary authority to normalize a rising meter: iambic dimeter. Then line 4, the valentine punchline, changes this pattern up. The grammatical person switches from 3rd to 2nd, the syntax reverses, flipping the subject “you” over the verb to claim last-word prestige, which is further cinched by the quatrain’s one end rhyme. And the rhythm falls, for once and for all, into synch with the meter, affirming that all’s well when love makes the world go round.
List of Poems
By Title
- A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
- Adonais (Stanzas 54-55)
- An Essay on Criticism (Excerpt ll. 362-73)
- Anthem for Doomed Youth
- Astrophil and Stella: 31
- Bright Star
- Chorus (from Henry the Fifth III.i.1-17)
- Despayre in Praise of Suicide (Faerie Queene 1.9.39-40)
- Dying Speech of an Old Philosopher
- Echo
- Elegy
- Enoch Arden
- Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to his Royal Highness
- Eternity
- Even Such is Time
- from In Memoriam; section 7
- from The Prelude (I.326-39)
- God’s Grandeur
- He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
- Heaven-Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil
- Holy Sonnet 1
- Holy Sonnet 14
- Hyperion I. 1-14
- I Look Into My Glass
- Idylls of the King (X.454-76)
- In Neglect
- Jabberwocky
- Jordan
- Juliet’s Soliloquy (from Romeo and Juliet III.ii.1-25)
- Kubla Khan
- La Belle Dame sans Merci
- Lear on the Heath (from King Lear III.ii.1-9)
- Life of Life (from Prometheus Unbound II.v.48-71)
- Meeting at Night
- Metrical Feet: Lesson for a Boy
- Mont Blanc ll. 1-11
- Mowing
- My Sweetest Lesbia
- On His Blindness
- Ozymandias
- Paradise Lost (IV. 222-44)
- Pertinax
- Prospero Explains (from The Tempest IV.i.148-63)
- Renouncement
- Resume
- Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus in a Painting of “The Judgment of Paris”
- Roses Are Red
- She Dotes on What the Wild Birds Say
- Since There’s No Help
- Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount
- Song
- Sonnet 18
- Sonnet 29
- Sonnet 73
- Sudden Light
- Thaw
- The Balloon of the Mind
- The Brain is Wider than the Sky
- The Cold Heaven
- The Eagle
- The Good-Morrow
- The Kraken
- The Lowest Place
- The Night is Freezing Fast
- The Oxen
- The Roundel
- The Sick Rose
- The Sonnet
- The Swifts
- The Tyger
- The Voice
- The Witch
- The Wood Pile
- Though I am Young and Cannot Tell
- To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing
- Upon Julia’s Clothes
- Westron Wynde
- When a Man Hath No Freedom
By Difficulty
WARMING UP
- A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
- An Essay on Criticism (Excerpt ll. 362-73)
- Despayre in Praise of Suicide (Faerie Queene 1.9.39-40)
- Dying Speech of an Old Philosopher
- Elegy
- Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to his Royal Highness
- Even Such is Time
- I Look Into My Glass
- Jabberwocky
- Meeting at Night
- Mont Blanc ll. 1-11
- Pertinax
- Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus in a Painting of “The Judgment of Paris”
- Roses Are Red
- Sonnet 18
- Sonnet 29
- The Balloon of the Mind
- The Brain is Wider than the Sky
- The Eagle
- The Kraken
- The Lowest Place
- The Night is Freezing Fast
- The Witch
- To a Friend Whose Work Has Come to Nothing
- Upon Julia’s Clothes
- Westron Wynde
MOVING ALONG
- Adonais (Stanzas 54-55)
- Anthem for Doomed Youth
- Astrophil and Stella: 31
- Bright Star
- Chorus (from Henry the Fifth III.i.1-17)
- Enoch Arden
- Eternity
- from In Memoriam; section 7
- from The Prelude (I.326-39)
- He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven
- Heaven-Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil
- Holy Sonnet 1
- Hyperion I. 1-14
- Idylls of the King (X.454-76)
- In Neglect
- Jordan
- La Belle Dame sans Merci
- Lear on the Heath (from King Lear III.ii.1-9)
- Mowing
- My Sweetest Lesbia
- Ozymandias
- Paradise Lost (IV. 222-44)
- Prospero Explains (from The Tempest IV.i.148-63)
- Renouncement
- Resume
- Since There’s No Help
- Song
- Sonnet 73
- Thaw
- The Good-Morrow
- The Roundel
- The Sick Rose
- The Sonnet
- The Swifts
- The Tyger
- The Wood Pile
- Though I am Young and Cannot Tell
- When a Man Hath No Freedom
SPECIAL CHALLENGE
- Echo
- God’s Grandeur
- Holy Sonnet 14
- Juliet’s Soliloquy (from Romeo and Juliet III.ii.1-25)
- Kubla Khan
- Life of Life (from Prometheus Unbound II.v.48-71)
- Metrical Feet: Lesson for a Boy
- On His Blindness
- She Dotes on What the Wild Birds Say
- Slow, Slow, Fresh Fount
- Sudden Light
- The Cold Heaven
- The Oxen
- The Voice
By Type
BALLAD
BLANK VERSE
- Chorus (from Henry the Fifth III.i.1-17)
- Enoch Arden
- from The Prelude (I.326-39)
- Hyperion I. 1-14
- Idylls of the King (X.454-76)
- Juliet’s Soliloquy (from Romeo and Juliet III.ii.1-25)
- Lear on the Heath (from King Lear III.ii.1-9)
- Paradise Lost (IV. 222-44)
- Prospero Explains (from The Tempest IV.i.148-63)
CINQUAIN
COUPLET
- An Essay on Criticism (Excerpt ll. 362-73)
- Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to his Royal Highness
- Metrical Feet: Lesson for a Boy
- Rhyme for a Child Viewing a Naked Venus in a Painting of “The Judgment of Paris”
- The Wood Pile
OCTAVE
ODE
QUATRAIN
- A Slumber Did My Spirit Seal
- Dying Speech of an Old Philosopher
- Eternity
- from In Memoriam; section 7
- Heaven-Haven: A Nun Takes the Veil
- I Look Into My Glass
- Jabberwocky
- On His Blindness
- Roses Are Red
- Thaw
- The Balloon of the Mind
- The Brain is Wider than the Sky
- The Lowest Place
- The Sick Rose
- The Tyger
- The Voice
- Westron Wynde
- When a Man Hath No Freedom
ROUNDEL
SIXAIN
- Life of Life (from Prometheus Unbound II.v.48-71)
- Meeting at Night
- My Sweetest Lesbia
- The Night is Freezing Fast
SONG
SONNET
- Anthem for Doomed Youth
- Astrophil and Stella: 31
- Bright Star
- God’s Grandeur
- Holy Sonnet 1
- Holy Sonnet 14
- Mowing
- Ozymandias
- Renouncement
- Since There’s No Help
- Sonnet 18
- Sonnet 29
- Sonnet 73
- The Sonnet
SPENSERIAN STANZA
TERCET
By Author
ANONYMOUS
WILLIAM BLAKE
ROBERT BROWNING
LORD BYRON
THOMAS CAMPION
LEWIS CARROLL
SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE
EMILY DICKINSON
JOHN DONNE
MICHAEL DRAYTON
ROBERT FROST
THOMAS HARDY
GEORGE HERBERT
ROBERT HERRICK
GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS
A. E. HOUSMAN
BEN JONSON
JOHN KEATS
WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR
W.S. MERWIN
ALICE MEYNELL
JOHN MILTON
WILFRED OWEN
DOROTHY PARKER
ALEXANDER POPE
- An Essay on Criticism (Excerpt ll. 362-73)
- Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to his Royal Highness
WALTER RALEGH
CHRISTINA ROSSETTI
DANTE GABRIEL ROSSETTI
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
- Chorus (from Henry the Fifth III.i.1-17)
- Juliet’s Soliloquy (from Romeo and Juliet III.ii.1-25)
- Lear on the Heath (from King Lear III.ii.1-9)
- Prospero Explains (from The Tempest IV.i.148-63)
- Sonnet 18
- Sonnet 29
- Sonnet 73
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
- Adonais (Stanzas 54-55)
- Life of Life (from Prometheus Unbound II.v.48-71)
- Mont Blanc ll. 1-11
- Ozymandias