Literary Analysis Of Dorothy Parker's One Perfect Rose

The poem “One Perfect Rose,” written by the author Dorothy Parker, represents an example of a well-developed creative narrative that reflects how rhetorical elements such as repetition complemented with tone shifts can highlight and present the theme more vividly. This poem represents a contrast from the majority of poems about love because it is not the typical portrayal of a non-practical, idealistic feeling. In fact, the poem serves as a mockery of love in the way we tend to envision it, since it comes from a speaker who cynically devalues true love over materialistic possessions. Although the identity of the speaker is not explicitly revealed, it can be inferred that it is a woman who has had romantic experiences where men tend to propose …show more content…
In line 6, the speaker personified the rose by stating how its “fragile leaves” enclosed his heart. A reader who approaches the poem for the first time might think that she is admiring the vulnerability of love, but instead she is categorizing love as weak. Through the messages conveyed line by line, it is clear that the speaker is mocking love as well as the symbolism of the rose. Towards the end of the stanza, there is an addition to the description of the lover as a man that is guided by his heart as it has been “taken for his amulet.” (l.7) However, it is in the final stanza where the tone changes dramatically and as a result, the reader discovers the speaker’s true underlying …show more content…
The speaker concluded each stanza with the line “one perfect rose.” (ll. 4,8,12) Like mentioned in the second verse, she compared the rose that was given to her with her lovers’ hearts. The rose that he gave her was not just any rose, but a perfect rose. He who gave her the rose is promising perfect love in all aspects. Yet either she fails to recognize it, which is obviously something that she has acknowledged already, or the ideal of perfect love is not what she is seeking. Like mentioned in line 5, she has had experience receiving perfect roses. Therefore, she is tired of having the same idealized love because a perfect rose does not exist. With the years, her vision of love has changed. Her thoughts seem to assimilate to the metaphor of the rose as well. The speaker’s mind is one perfect rose at the midst of flourishing. In the beginning, the speaker can be deceiving since her wording is sweet and innocent. Nonetheless, as the rose is opened, the reader discovers her underlying thoughts that show her true self. The tone shift pattern occurred as the poem progressed. The first stanza hints at the idea that she cherishes love in its essence and then as the poem finalized, the speaker began to gain a darker sense of humor. Regardless of the beauty of a rose, it will always have thorns, just as love and her. She is as deceiving as the rose she passionately