Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

RED AND WHITE ROSES by THOMAS CAREW

Poet Analysis

First Line: READ IN THESE ROSES THE SAD STORY
Last Line: AND THEN THEY BOTH SHALL GROW TOGETHER.
Subject(s): FLOWERS; ROSES;
READ in these roses the sad story
Of my hard fate and your own glory.
In the white you may discover
The paleness of a fainting lover;
In the red the flames still feeding
On my heart, with fresh wounds bleeding.
The white will tell you how I languish,
And the red express my anguish;
The white my innocence displaying,
The red my martyrdom betraying.
The frowns that on your brow resided
Have those roses thus divided.
Oh let your smiles but clear the weather,
And then they both shall grow together.



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