Roses Are Red Lyrics
Almost everyone knows "roses are red, violets are blue", but few know it was printed as a Valentine's rhyme in 1784, and that the idea goes back to a poem from 1590.
Roses Are Red
The rose is red, the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Printed from https://nurseryrhymes.co/roses-are-red/
- Type
- Mother Goose
- First published
- 1784
- Tune
- Spoken rhyme
- Best for ages
- 3 to 10 years
What Does Roses Are Red Mean?
It is a simple compliment: roses are red, violets are blue, honey (or sugar) is sweet, and so are you. That easy pattern is why the rhyme has become the most copied poem form in English, turned into jokes, cards and school poems by millions of people.
History and Origin
The version here was printed in Gammer Gurton's Garland in 1784 as part of a Valentine's verse. The idea is older still: in Edmund Spenser's long poem The Faerie Queene (1590), a character is described bathing "with roses red, and violets blew". Today most people say "sugar is sweet" instead of honey.
Learning Activities
- Write your own: keep the first two lines and let your child finish it, for example "Pancakes are tasty and so are you".
- Card making: write a family version inside a homemade card for a birthday or Valentine's Day.
- Color check: look at real violets. Are they blue, or more purple?