The White Rose and the Red Rose
The white rose and the red rose,So sisters two were named, yes, named.The white one was so quiet,The red one laughed and flamed.But different was their doing, yes,When came the time of wooing, yes.The white one turned so red, so red,The red one turned so white.
For him the red one favored,Him father would not bless, not bless.But him the white one favored,He got at once his "Yes."The red one now was paling, yes,With sorrow, psalms, and wailing, yes.The white one turned so red, so red,The red one turned so white.
Then father grew so fearfulAnd had to give his "Yes," oh, yes!With songs and music cheerfulThe wedding rang, oh, yes!And soon sprang children rosen, yes,In shoes and little hosen, yes.The red one's, they were white,--and oh,The white one's, they were red.
Words in this poem
- paling n.
- Pales, in general; a fence formed with pales or pickets; a limit; an inclosure.
- rosen a.
- Consisting of roses; rosy.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The White Rose and the Red Rose is in the public domain. This text is taken from Poems and Songs, Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, the Arthur Hubbell Palmer translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, The White Rose and the Red Rose, in Poems and Songs (1915), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6619, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/bjornson-poems-and-songs/the-white-rose-and-the-red-rose.html, id L29292.
Form and metre
The White Rose and the Red Rose is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 88%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 -A-ABB-- rose · namedA · quiet · flamedA · yesB · yesB · red · white
- 2 ABABBBA- favoredA · blessB · favoredA · yesB · yesB · yesB · redA · white
- 3 ABABBB-- fearfulA · yesB · cheerfulA · yesB · yesB · yesB · oh · red
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| The white rose and the red rose, | 7 | ······· |
| So sisters two were named, yes, named. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The white one was so quiet, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| The red one laughed and flamed. | 6 | ······ |
| But different was their doing, yes, | 8 | ·/˘˘··/· |
| When came the time of wooing, yes. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The white one turned so red, so red, | 8 | ········ |
| The red one turned so white. | 6 | ······ |
| For him the red one favored, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| Him father would not bless, not bless. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| But him the white one favored, | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| He got at once his "Yes." | 6 | ······ |
| The red one now was paling, yes, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| With sorrow, psalms, and wailing, yes. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| The white one turned so red, so red, | 8 | ········ |
| The red one turned so white. | 6 | ······ |
| Then father grew so fearful | 7 | ·/˘··/˘ |
| And had to give his "Yes," oh, yes! | 8 | ········ |
| With songs and music cheerful | 7 | ···/˘/˘ |
| The wedding rang, oh, yes! | 6 | ·/˘··· |
| And soon sprang children rosen, yes, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| In shoes and little hosen, yes. | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| The red one's, they were white,--and oh, | 8 | ········ |
| The white one's, they were red. | 6 | ······ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.