The short story "The Nightingale and the Rose" by Oscar Wilde tells of a student who is in love with the daughter of a professor. He longs to dance with her at the prince's ball. He imagines the musicians playing as he dances with her, holds her hand, and holds her in his arms with her head leaning on his shoulder.

However, the young man thinks that his life is wretched because he does not believe that all this will come to pass. The reason for his pessimism is that he does not have a single red rose in his garden. She has promised to dance with him if he will bring her a red rose. Because he cannot find one, he believes that he has lost the chance to win her love. For this reason he feels wretched, and he falls down on the grass and weeps.

The nightingale hears his laments and sympathizes with him. She sees him as a true lover, and she considers love to be of more value than anything else. She sets off in search of a red rose for the young man but cannot find one. Finally, a nightingale tells her that the only way to create a red rose in time is for her to sacrifice herself by impaling herself on a thorn as she sings until the thorn pierces her heart. She does this, and the rose appears.

When the student discovers the brilliant red rose in the morning, he quickly carries it to the professor's daughter. However, she spurns him anyway. She says that someone else has given her jewels, which are more valuable than roses. The nightingale's sacrifice is in vain, and the student decides to abandon love and study philosophy instead.