Go, Lovely Rose Group

Question:

twilightfan89
twilightfan89
Student
College - Sophomore

Do you agree that the 3rd stanza of "Go Lovely Rose" could stand as an independent poem?

The poems contain a narrative of the brief life and the imminent death of a rose. In the 3rd stanza, however, the rose is momentarily forgotten while the poet meditates and speaks directly about the woman. If you agree that this 3rd stanza could conceiably stand as an independent poem, explain why it becomes a better poem when places within the context of the address to the rose.

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Posted by twilightfan89 on Tuesday September 23, 2008 at 7:05 AM and tagged with go, lovely rose, rose, stanza 3.

Answers:

  1. lit24
    lit24 Teacher
    Doctorate

    eNotes Editor

    The third stanza of the poem cannot be considered independently without relating it to the earlier two stanzas, because in the first stanza he explicitly compares the rose with his extremely shy lover, "When I resemble her to thee/How sweet and fair she seems to be;"  and then in the third stanza he refers to her again when he says, "Bid her come forth."

    In the third stanza the rose has not been forgotten. The rose has been personified into a  messenger to advocate and plead with her to overcome her shyness and come out into the open so that he can admire and praise her beauty, because beauty which is hidden is of no value: "Small is the worth/Of beauty from the light retired."

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    Posted by lit24 on Tuesday September 23, 2008 at 8:52 AM