Behind the Poetic Rhyme “Roses Are Red”

If you were to sit down and try to write a loving song, three words are assuredly going to come right to mind: Roses are red. Then, of course, three more spring to mind: Violets are blue. Indeed, “Roses Are Red” has become ubiquitous with loving lyricism, whether the author is meaning to pen something sincere or a joke. So often, it begins, Roses are red…

But what is the backstory to that bit of verse? Where did it come from and how did it come to be known as the quintessential love lyric?

1590

For a proper understanding of where the lyric came from, we have to go back to the year 1590 for context. Today the rhyme is known most commonly as:

Roses are red
  Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet
  And so are you.

Early on, it was not so cute and concise. In 1590, poet Edmund Spenser wrote the long work The Faerie Queene in celebration of Elizabeth I, which read, in part:

It was upon a Sommers shynie day,
When Titan faire his beames did display,
In a fresh fountaine, farre from all mens vew,
She bath’d her brest, the boyling heat t’allay;
She bath’d with roses red, and violets blue,
And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.

1784

Nearly 200 years later, the concept returns in poetry from Joseph Johnson’s Gammer Gurton’s Garland, which reads,

The rose is red, the violet’s blue,
The honey’s sweet, and so are you.
Thou are my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou’d be you.

Here, we are moving a bit past the peeping top from 1590, staring at a bathing beauty, and getting more to the romantic, almost proto-Hallmark card appeal of the couplets.

1862

After a few years, acclaimed writer Victor Hugo included a version of the verse in his now-iconic 1862 work, Les Misérables. In that, Hugo, who may or may not have known about Johnson’s work above, wrote,

Les bleuets sont bleus, les roses sont roses,
Les bleuets sont bleus, j’aime mes amours.

Which was translated to,

Violets are blue, roses are red,
Violets are blue, I love my loves.

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

While this saying is true—meaning, the closer you are to something, the more it can annoy you—in this case, familiarity breeds parody.

In more recent years, the rhyme has come to be known almost at birth, it’s in our DNA. When something romantic happens, it’s Roses are red, violets are blue. It’s as much a punchline setup as it is an admission of affection now. For example, English comedian Benny Hill once said,

Roses are yellow
Violets are bluish
If it weren’t for Christmas
We’d all be Jewish.

There are also a number of musicians who have worked the lyrical turn of phrase into their songs, including the band Aqua in their song, “Roses Are Red.” (Here are dozens more for readers to enjoy.)

Roses are red and
Violets are blue
Honey is sweet,
But not as sweet as you
Roses are red and
Violets are blue.

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Come pick my Roses!