A Red, Red Rose - wikipedia A Red, Red Rose `` A Red, Red Rose '' is a 1794 song in Scots by Robert Burns based on traditional sources. The song is also referred to by the title `` Oh, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose '', `` My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose '' or `` Red, Red Rose '' and is often published as a poem. Contents 1 The poem 2 Origins of the song 3 Musical performances 4 Inspiration 5 Symbolism 6 External links 7 Footnotes 8 Bibliography 9 References The poem O my Luve 's like a red, red rose That 's newly sprung in june ; O my Luve 's like the melodie That 's sweetly play 'd in tune : As fair art thou, my bonnie lass, So deep in luve am I : And I will luve thee still, my dear, Till a ' the seas gang dry : Till a ' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi ' the sun : I will luve thee still, my dear, While the sands o ' life shall run. And fare thee weel, my only Luve And fare thee weel, a while ! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho ' it were ten thousand mile. My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose Origins of the song Publication in A Selection of Scots Songs Harmonized Improved with Simple and Adapted Graces by Peter Urbani, Edinburgh, c. 1793 Burns worked for the final ten years of his life on projects to preserve traditional Scottish songs for the future. In all, Burns had a hand in preserving over 300 songs for posterity, the most famous being `` Auld Lang Syne ''. He worked on this project for James Johnson 's the Scots Musical Museum ( 1787 - 1803 ) and for George Thomson 's five - volume A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice. Burns had intended the work to be published as part of Thomson 's selection. However, he wrote to a friend that Thomson and he disagreed on the merits of that type of song. `` What to me appears to be the simple and the wild, to him, and I suspect to you likewise, will be looked on as the ludicrous and the absurd. '' Instead, Burns gave the song to Scots singer Pietro Urbani who published it in his Scots Songs. In his book, Urbani claimed `` the words of The Red Red Rose were obligingly given to him by a celebrated Scots poet, who was so struck by them when sung by a country girl that he wrote them down and, not being pleased with the air, begged the author to set them to music in the style of a Scots tune, which he has done accordingly. '' In other correspondence, Burns referred to it as a `` simple old Scots song which I had picked up in the country. '' The lyrics of the song are simple but effective. `` My luve 's like a red, red rose / That 's newly sprung in June '' describe a love that is both fresh and long lasting. David Daiches in his work describes Burns as `` the greatest songwriter Britain has produced '' for his work in refurbishing and improving traditional Scots songs including `` Red, Red Rose '' which he described as a `` combination of tenderness and swagger. '' Musical performances My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose Dennis O'Neill ( tenor ), Ingrid Surgenor ( piano ) Problems playing this file ? See media help. Urbani published the song to an original tune that he wrote. The song appeared in Johnson 's Museum in 1797 to the tune of Niel Gow 's `` Major Graham '' which was the tune that Burns wanted. In 1799, it appeared in Thomson 's Scottish Airs set to William Marshall 's Wishaw 's Favourite with the lyric `` And fare thee weel awhile '' changed. The song became more popular when Robert Archibald Smith paired it with the tune of `` Low Down in the Broom '' in his Scottish Minstrel book in 1821. This has become the most popular arrangement. The song has been widely performed by a range of artists in the 20th and 21st centuries including Jean Redpath, Pat Boone, Kenneth McKellar, the Fureys, Eddi Reader, Camera Obscura, Eva Cassidy, Izzy, and Ronnie Browne of the Corries ( in his solo album after Roy Williamson 's death, ' Scottish Love Songs ' ( 1995 ) ). Robert Schumann composed a setting of a German translation of Burns 's poem in 1840. Singer and actor Pat Boone performed the song on piano in the 1959 film adaptation of A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Modern choral arrangements include a four - part, a cappella version by David Dickau, an intimate, Irish folk music - influenced setting, also SATB a cappella, by Matthew Brown ( `` A Red, Red Rose, '' published by Santa Barbara Music ), an accompanied SATB setting by James Mulholland as well as a broader version by American composer René Clausen. Clausen 's arrangement incorporates a piano, two violins, and a four - part chorus. ( SATB ) A Swedish translation and recording named `` Min älskling ( du är som en ros ) '' was made famous by the renowned Swedish musician Evert Taube. Carly Simon sang a solo version of `` A Red, Red Rose '' on the album The Simon Sisters Sing The Lobster Quadrille And Other Songs For Children that she produced with her sister Lucy Simon. A version of Oh My Love is like a Red, Red Rose by Italian singer Ariella Uliano was performed with classical guitar accompaniment on the album Leave Only Your Footsteps Behind. The lyrics are included in the song `` Final Breath '' by the post rock band Pelican on their album What We All Come to Need. Moscow - based art - rock band `` Red Red Rose '' derives its name from the poem and has a song called `` RRR '' inspired by the poem. Inspiration When asked for the source of his greatest creative inspiration, American singer songwriter Bob Dylan selected Burns ' 1794 song A Red, Red Rose, as the lyrics that have had the biggest effect on his life. Symbolism The song is highly evocative, including lines describing rocks melting with the sun, and the seas running dry. Burns may have been inspired by the concept of deep time put forward a few years earlier by geologist James Hutton in his Theory of the Earth in 1789. Hutton and Burns were contemporaries, and would have mixed in similar circles in Edinburgh. External links `` Red, Red Rose by Robert Burns '' on YouTube Footnotes ^ letter from Burns to Alexander Cunningham, cited in The Burns Encyclopedia article on Pietro Urbani ^ Urbani in `` Scots Songs '' Burns Encyclopedia op. cit. ^ letter from Burns to Alexander Cunningham 1794 Burns Encyclopedia op. cit. ^ David Daiches, British Writers Volume 3 British Council 1980 pages 310 - 323 Bibliography Digitised copy of A red red rose in James Johnson 's Scots Musical Museum, printed between 1787 and 1803, from National Library of Scotland. JPEG, PDF, XML versions. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 109 : Eighteenth - Century British Poets, Second Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by John Sitter, Emory University. The Gale Group, 1991. pp. 33 -- 54. Robert Burns encyclopedia article on Pietro Urbani containing the history of the song Allmusic.com song search for Red, Red Rose ( 5 ) and `` My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose '' ( 6 ) David Daiches, British Writers Volume 3 British Council 1980 pages 310 - 323 Scribner Writers Series Andrew Noble and Patrick Scott Hogg ( editors ) The Canongate Burns 2003 pages 412 - 413 ISBN 1 - 84195 - 380 - 6 David Daiches, Robert Burns Spurbooks Edinburgh 1981 ISBN 0 - 7157 - 2093 - 7 References Wikisource has original text related to this article : Oh, My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose Jump up ^ Simpson, Richard ( 2008 - 10 - 05 ). `` Bob Dylan names Scottish poet Robert Burns as his biggest inspiration ''. Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2009 - 07 - 13. Bob Dylan has named his own greatest inspiration as the Scottish poet Robert Burns. The American singer - songwriter was asked to say which lyric or verse has had the biggest effect on his life. He selected the 1794 song A Red, Red Rose, which is often published as a poem, penned by the man regarded as Scotland 's national poet. Jump up ^ Michaels, Sean ( 2008 - 10 - 06 ). `` Bob Dylan : Robert Burns is my biggest inspiration ''. The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2009 - 06 - 11. Dylan has revealed his greatest inspiration is Scotland 's favourite son, the Bard of Ayrshire, the 18th - century poet known to most as Rabbie Burns. Dylan selected A Red, Red Rose, written by Burns in 1794. ^ Jump up to : `` A Red, Red Rose ''. Scottish Poetry Library. Retrieved 2015 - 01 - 25. Jump up ^ `` Geography Lessons ''. The Scotsman. Retrieved 2015 - 01 - 25. Robert Burns Poems `` Comin ' Thro ' the Rye '' ( 1782 ) `` John Barleycorn '' ( 1782 ) `` Address to the Deil '' ( 1785 ) `` Epitaph for James Smith '' ( 1785 ) `` Halloween '' ( 1785 ) `` Holy Willie 's Prayer '' ( 1785 ) `` To a Mouse '' ( 1785 ) The Kilmarnock volume ( 1786 ) `` To a Louse '' ( 1786 ) `` To a Mountain Daisy '' ( 1786 ) `` The Battle of Sherramuir '' ( 1787 ) `` The Birks of Aberfeldy '' ( 1787 ) `` Auld Lang Syne '' ( 1788 ) `` My Heart 's in the Highlands '' ( 1789 ) Tam o ' Shanter ( 1790 ) `` Ae Fond Kiss '' ( 1791 ) `` Such a Parcel of Rogues in a Nation '' ( 1791 ) `` Sweet Afton '' ( 1791 ) `` The Slave 's Lament '' ( 1792 ) `` Oh, whistle and I 'll come to you, my lad '' ( 1793 ) `` Scots Wha Hae '' ( 1793 ) `` A Red, Red Rose '' ( 1794 ) `` Is There for Honest Poverty '' ( 1795 ) Places Brownhill Inn Burns Cottage Drukken Steps Ellisland Farm The Hermitage ( Friars Carse ) Writers ' Museum Family Jean Armour ( wife ) Agnes Broun ( mother ) William Burnes ( father ) Gilbert Burns ( brother ) Robert Burnes ( Uncle ) People John Anderson Alison Begbie Thomas Blacklock Nelly Blair Richard Brown May Cameron Mary Campbell Jenny Clow Lord Glencairn Frances Dunlop Jean Gardner Jean Glover Helen Hyslop Nelly Kilpatrick John MacKenzie Agnes Maclehose Ann Park Elizabeth Paton David Sillar Peggy Thompson Related Bachelors ' Club, Tarbolton Burns Clubs Irvine Atlanta Burns supper Memorials Kilmarnock Montreal Barre Robert Burns ( Stevenson ) Robert Burns ( Varga ) Robert Burns ( Steell ) Robert Burns 's diamond point engravings Robert Burns and the Eglinton Estate Robert Burns Humanitarian Award Robert Burns World Federation The Loves of Robert Burns ( 1930 film ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A_Red,_Red_Rose&oldid=814019750 '' Categories : 1974 songs Scottish literature Poetry by Robert Burns Scots - language works Traditional ballads Songs with lyrics by Robert Burns 1794 in Scotland Scottish songs Songs based on poems Hidden categories : Articles with hAudio microformats Talk Contents About Wikipedia Scots West - Vlams Edit links This page was last edited on 6 December 2017, at 13 : 17. About Wikipedia

Question: who wrote my love is like a red red rose
Answer: Robert Burns