Dorothy Parker- American Poet
One Perfect Rose is a short poem written by Dorothy Parker, an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist known for her tongue-in-cheek humor. This poem was published in 1926 in her first poetry collection, ‘Enough Rope’. The main themes of the poem are outdated expressions of romantic love and the poet’s desire for luxury and independence.
One Perfect Rose poem by Dorothy Parker
A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet
One perfect rose.
I knew the language of the floweret;
“My fragile leaves,” it said, “his heart enclose.”
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
Stanza wise summary of the poem One Perfect Rose
In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker talks about the flower her lover sent her, when they first met. She says that he has selected it with great care as his messenger. She describes the flower as deep-hearted and pure, still fragrant with the morning dew. He has sent her one perfect rose as a token of his love.
In the second stanza, the speaker assigns a symbolic meaning to the rose. She says that she can understand the flower’s language. The rose tells her that within its leaves her lover’s heart is enclosed. The speaker then reflects upon the concept of love and says that for a long time one perfect rose has been a symbol of love (…taken for his amulet).
The speaker asks the readers a question in the third stanza. So far, all her lovers have sent her one perfect rose. She wonders why nobody has ever sent her one perfect limousine instead. She answers the question herself stating that perhaps it’s just her luck to always get one perfect rose.
Central Themes in the poem One Perfect Rose
Romantic love
The central theme of the poem, One Perfect Rose is the outdated notion of romantic love including its symbolism. The poem is a satire on how male lovers usually communicate their feelings to the women they love by sending them a rose.
The poet conveys that sending a rose to your lover is an old-fashioned way of expressing love. She hints that the modern woman prefers something more than a simple rose, like a fancy car for instance.
Feminism
Feminism is another theme that is visible in the poem since the poet paints a picture of a typical male lover and his shallow understanding of women.
The suitor thinks that giving her a perfect rose will win her over to him. This is because there is a general prejudice that women love flowers and can be swooned by giving them a mere rose.
The poet questions this attitude of her lovers because though she has received many perfect roses, she hasn’t received a perfect limousine yet; meaning that she is tired of always receiving only a perfect rose.
She prefers owning something of lasting value and not just beauty. A gift that will help her exercise her freedom and independence.
Other themes in the poem
Gender stereotyping may be another theme in this poem. Dorothy Parker wrote this poem in the early twentieth century when feminism was beginning to gain momentum.
She pokes fun at how the men displayed their love for women by just sending flowers or other gifts that they considered ‘feminine’.
The poet probably finds a gift like a car more practical and useful. A flower is just pleasing to the eye but will fade and wither within a few days.
Line-by-line interpretation of the poem One Perfect Rose
A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.
All tenderly his messenger he chose;
Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet –
One perfect rose.
The poet begins the poem by giving the readers an impression of the flower her lover sent her (A single flow’r he sent me). By using the word “flow’r” and not “flower” thereby omitting the ‘e’, the poet makes use of a Syncope.
She says that since the time they met, her lover has sent her only a single flower. She says that he has put a lot of thought into choosing the flower as his messenger (All tenderly his messenger he chose). This could be a metaphor for the lover’s affection.
The poet describes the rose vividly, calling it ‘Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet’. This could be a metaphor for the pure deep love that her lover feels for her. The rose also emits a pleasant fragrance and is still wet with the morning dew.
I knew the language of the floweret;
“My fragile leaves,” it said, “his heart enclose.”
Love long has taken for his amulet
One perfect rose.
The poet personifies the rose by saying that she understands the language of the flower (I knew the language of the floweret). She says that the rose speaks to her, telling her that in its delicate leaves her lover’s heart is enclosed (‘My fragile leaves,’ it said, ‘his heart enclose.’). The rose is symbolic of her lover’s heart and by offering her the rose, her lover seems to be giving her a part of himself.
The poet also personifies love by saying that love has taken one perfect rose as ‘his’ amulet. (Love long has taken for his amulet). An ‘amulet’ is usually worn as a lucky charm/talisman to bring good fortune to the wearer.
Since time immemorial, a ‘Red Rose’ has been the symbol of love, thus akin to an amulet. Though the color of the rose is not mentioned anywhere in the poem, we can assume that the color of the rose she receives from her lover is red. (One perfect rose.)
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it’s always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
In the final stanza, the poet asks her readers a question that she doesn’t expect them to answer but subsequently answers herself. This technique of posing questions is called a hypophora.
She wants to know why nobody to date has ever sent her one perfect limousine instead of one perfect rose. The poet seems to be making fun of the stereotypical male lovers who think that their women only deserve a rose.
The rose has always been a symbol of love and is generally exchanged between lovers to show their affection. The poet does not seem impressed and expects a more lavish gift like a limousine instead.
This could be because as per gender bias luxury cars such as a limousine are only driven or chauffeured by men, indicating that women only appreciate the beauty in delicate things like flowers.
Another interpretation is that none of her lovers are wealthy enough to afford her a limousine. She thus makes it clear that she desires bigger, better things for herself and the freedom and independence that comes from owning such things.
The poet ends the poem by answering the question she asked earlier. She says that it’s always just her luck to get one perfect rose (Ah no, it’s always just my luck).
She may be implying that that is all she deserves in life and that fate does not favor her with any other luxurious gifts or treats. Hence, she must be content with only one perfect rose.
One Perfect Rose – Poem Analysis
In the poem, One Perfect Rose, the poet Dorothy Parker makes good use of metaphors, personification, and refrain to narrate her perspective. The poem chiefly focuses on the speaker’s experience of receiving only flowers from her lovers and her cynical attitude toward them. Though the speaker is not named in the poem, it is assumed that the speaker is the poet herself.
At the beginning of the poem, the poet seems to be taken in by her lover’s display of affection for sending her ‘one perfect rose’. However, her tone becomes quite sarcastic towards the end of the poem when she raises a question, hinting that she should get something grander and more beautiful than a rose.
The poet was popularly known for her ability to wisecrack and for having an eye for human frailty. Her talent for wit and dry humor is apparent in this poem.
In the first two stanzas, she cleverly leads the reader to believe that she is touched by her lover’s affectionate gesture. She seems to be equally fond of her lover by using words such as ‘tenderly the messenger he chose’ and ‘his heart enclose‘.
She appeals to the emotional side of her readers through this style of narration. But the poet’s real intention is revealed only in the last stanza, thus giving the poem a witty twist.
The question she asks in the last stanza is the clincher that leads the reader to wonder what the real purpose behind her narration is. It seems that the poet is sarcastic about the men who are biased towards sending women they love just a rose.
It is a general presumption that women love flowers. Hence men think that a perfect rose is all it takes to win a woman’s heart. However, such romantic notions are cliched and outdated.
It is also quite clear from the poem that the poet has the desire to own a luxury car. Maybe some of her lovers were rich enough to afford a perfect limousine and could give her the same or maybe they were poor and couldn’t afford the luxuries she desired.
In the end, whatever the poet is trying to convey it seems that in the end she is resigned to her fate because she admits that it is always just her luck to get one perfect rose.
Poem Structure and Poetic Devices in the poem One Perfect Rose
The poem is written in three paragraphs of four lines each, making a short but effective twelve-line poem. Since every stanza has four lines it becomes a Quatrain. It has a rhyme scheme of ABAB as the first line rhymes with the third and the second line rhymes with the fourth in all three stanzas.
The first three lines of the poem in every stanza are written in iambic pentameter since it has five sets of two beats each and the last line in each stanza is in iambic dimeter having only two beats.
The simplicity and terseness of this text set up the naive, wistful nature of the first two stanzas. Furthermore, they contribute to the effectiveness of the last stanza’s witty, rhetorical reflection on the lack of limousine gifts.
The tone of the poem One Perfect Rose
In the last stanza, the tone of irony suggests a further layer of content, that of the representation of the feminine as an idealist and essentialist, and its deconstruction.
Alliteration:
“A single flow’r he sent me, since we met.”
Metaphor:
“All tenderly his messenger he chose;”
“Deep-hearted, pure, with scented dew still wet-”
Personification:
‘My fragile leaves,’ it said, ‘his heart enclose.’
“Love long has taken for his amulet”
Refrain
“One perfect rose”- three times
