Poem Analysis: The Rose Family by Robert Frost

Written by:

Moh. Taufik

The Rose Family

by Robert Frost

The rose is a rose,                   (1)

And was always a rose.          (2)

But the theory now goes         (3)

That the apple's a rose,           (4)

And the pear is, and so's         (5)

The plum, I suppose.              (6)

The dear only knows              (7)

What will next prove a rose.   (8)

You, of course, are a rose-      (9)

But were always a rose.          (10)

            This paper presents an analysis of a poem entitled The Rose Family written by Robert Frost. The writer decided to choose this poem to analyze because the writer thinks that, based on a short analysis, the poem has an important issue about the life of women and social environment which is described and criticized through this poem. In order to find what the poem is about, the writer analyzes the poem through its symbolism and tone which is going to be done verse by verse.

            The poem is full of symbolism. There are five words which are symbolic; rose, apple, pear, plum, and dear.  The first verse, The rose is a rose, contains symbolism of rose. According to Ferber (1999), he stated that a flower mostly represents a girl. It is actually not limited to roses only that almost any flower can be used to represent a girl. However, he stated that the rose has always stood for the most beautiful, the most beloved – in many languages, and often for one who is notably young, vulnerable, and virginal. Using the symbolism of rose and the use of present tense to present a fact, this verse is interpreted to have meaning that every woman is beautiful. Continued with the next verse, And was always a rose, with the same symbolism of rose but difference tense, it comes to an emphasis that every woman is beautiful despite the change of time and age. No matter they are in the past or present, old or young, they are beautiful.

            The third verse, But the theory now goes, contains a contrast idea that it starts with the word but. The word theory refers to, simply, people perception about the beauty of women. The contrast idea is then elaborated through the fourth, fifth, and sixth verse. Those three verses contain symbolism of apple, pear, and plum. The three fruit have almost the same symbolism meaning. According to Ferber (1999), he stated, by relying on biblical story, that the “apple” is alluring and tasty, but in both Hebrew and classical tradition the fruit is associated with sexual love, which Adam and Eve discover, in some interpretations, after eating it. Furthermore, not only Adam’s forbidden apple, the pear, as it is stated by Janick (2002), is destined to be included, not as a forbidden fruit, but as a temptation for sin by Augustine (354–430) of Hippo, a city in ancient Numidia, North Africa, now considered part of Algeria. The last fruit, which is plum¸ according to Marie (2013), is associated with virginity and beauty. Based on the symbolism of the three fruits, of which the meaning are alike, the possible interpretation towards these verses is that the concept stating that every woman is beautiful, despite the changes of time and age, is changed that women are beautiful when they are virgin, young, attractive, alluring, sexually tempting, and other possible characteristics described through the three fruit, such as intelligence that might be a symbolism of apple.

The seventh up to the tenth verse present, let’s say, a resolution towards the change of perception that the beauty of a woman is based on some certain characteristics. The dear refers to the one who purely loves the women, including father, mother, sisters, brothers, or husband. The idea of the resolution, through an optimistic tone of word choice dear and prove, and the use of only, is that no matter how other people might change the perception towards the beauty of women, there are still those beloved ones who will always define women as beautiful creatures, as they are beautiful in their own ways, even though those women are not in categorization of what beauty is in other people’s mind. Still in the part of “resolution”, with the same tone, optimistic, the author stated the word you, followed with of course, to convey a message towards the readers, or possibly the author’s beloved one, that they are also beautiful. Then, again, the last verse, started with the word but, is supposed to have a contrast idea, but we can see that the clauses You, of course, are a rose and (you) were always a rose are not in contrast. As it is so, then it is interpreted that the idea of the contrast, shown by the use of but and simple past¸ is that the beauty in you is not the beauty categorized by people, such as being virgin, young, attractive, alluring, sexually tempting, etc. but it is the pure beauty defined by beloved ones.

            In conclusion, Robert Frost wants to criticize people who tend to define the beauty of a woman based on some categorizations which rely on their own preferences which are subjective. Instead of judging whether or not a woman is beautiful, Robert Frost, through this poem, advises that people should consider the view of the woman’s beloved ones about her beauty. Also, he convinces readers that no matter how unattractive appearance the readers might have been judged by people, it should not bring them down since they have the beloved ones who always consider them as beautiful creatures.

References

Ferber, Michael. (1999). A Dictionary of Literary Symbols. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Janick, Jules. (2014). The Pear in History, Literature, Popular Culture, and Art. Indiana: Purdue University. (Online). (http://www.actahort.org/books/596/596_1.htm), accessed on 26^th November 2017.

L.Z. Marie. (2012). Tree of Life. (Online), (http://lzmarieauthor.com/tag/plum-tree-symbolism/), accessed on 26^th November 2017.