Three Roses
Just when the red June Roses blowShe gave me one,--a year ago.A Rose whose crimson breath revealedThe secret that its heart concealed,And whose half shy, half tender graceBlushed back upon the giver's face.A year ago--a year ago--To hope was not to know.
Just when the red June Roses blowI plucked her one,--a month ago:Its half-blown crimson to eclipse,I laid it on her smiling lips;The balmy fragrance of the southDrew sweetness from her sweeter mouth.Swiftly do golden hours creep,--To hold is not to keep.
The red June Roses now are past,This very day I broke the last--And now its perfumed breath is hid,With her, beneath a coffin-lid;There will its petals fall apart,And wither on her icy heart:-At three red Roses' costMy world was gained and lost.
Words in this poem
- balmy a.
- Having the qualities of balm; odoriferous; aromatic; assuaging; soothing; refreshing; mild.
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Three Roses is in the public domain. This text is taken from Legends and Lyrics. Part 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #2304; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Adelaide Anne Procter, Three Roses, in Legends and Lyrics: Second Series (1861), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #2304, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/procter-legends-lyrics/three-roses.html, id L21778.
Form and metre
Three Roses is 24 lines in 3 stanzas of 8 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABBCCDD, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 91%).
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 AABBCCAA blowA · agoA · revealedB · concealedB · graceC · faceC · agoA · knowA
- 2 AABBCCDD blowA · agoA · eclipseB · lipsB · southC · mouthC · creepD · keepD
- 3 AABBCCDD pastA · lastA · hidB · lidB · apartC · heartC · costD · lostD
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Just when the red June Roses blow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| She gave me one,--a year ago. | 8 | ······˘/ |
| A Rose whose crimson breath revealed | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| The secret that its heart concealed, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| And whose half shy, half tender grace | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Blushed back upon the giver's face. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| A year ago--a year ago-- | 8 | ··˘/··˘/ |
| To hope was not to know. | 6 | ······ |
| Just when the red June Roses blow | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| I plucked her one,--a month ago: | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Its half-blown crimson to eclipse, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| I laid it on her smiling lips; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The balmy fragrance of the south | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| Drew sweetness from her sweeter mouth. | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Swiftly do golden hours creep,-- | 8 | /˘·/˘/˘· |
| To hold is not to keep. | 6 | ······ |
| The red June Roses now are past, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| This very day I broke the last-- | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And now its perfumed breath is hid, | 8 | ···˘/··· |
| With her, beneath a coffin-lid; | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| There will its petals fall apart, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| And wither on her icy heart:- | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| At three red Roses' cost | 6 | ···/˘· |
| My world was gained and lost. | 7 | ····˘·· |
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.