The rose, Bette Midler

My original text

“The rose” is a love song composed by Bette Midler in the eighties. This song talks about love and its
effects on people but mostly about how love has two faces but despite that, at the end, love always
win.

Firstly, this song is very harmonious and has musicality because the pattern scheme used is mostly
regular. Then, we can observe some anaphorical parallelism and repetition that provide an effect of
accumulation and insistence. In the first paragraph we deal with many negatives views of love that
are going to evolve.

Secondly, we can see literary devices like an extended metaphor (l. 1-8) where the autor compare
love to different things as : a river, a razor, hunger…We see that in the fist paragraph the vision of love
is very negative (except the last two verses that compare love with a rose, this refers to the title)
which contrast with the second one where we can find personifications that are still negative but in a
different kind of way.

We can find : “It’s the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance” or “It’s the dream, afraid
of waking, that never takes the chance“ with these personifications, Bette Midler want to show us
that the problems of love can also be people’s fault not like in the first one where love was naturally
depicted.

Finally, the last paragraph is different to the other two because it has a different structure and mood.
We can see a parallelism : “When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long”
(l.16-17) with these verses there are a rupture of the structure that we have seen in the last two
paragraphs where love was compared to an item and on top of that we can see a metaphor at the
end of the poem : “Lies the seed that with the sun’s love, In the spring becomes the rose” where we
can see hope and another reference of the title like in the fist paragraph and in both of this
references the mood is more joyful.

In conclusion, the author Bette Midler wants to show us that love may be hard but there is always
hope and that with patience everything will comes to you. This poem may be a little bit cliché
because it repeats over and over the same discourse of love and its consequences but with a happy
moral.

We can connect this poem to the “Four ages of love” by Norman Rockwell where he remembers us
the importance of companionship.

My text corrected
« The Rose » is a love song composed by Bette Midler in the eighties. This song talks about love and
its effects on people but mostly about how love has two faces, but despite that, at the end, love
always wins.

Firstly, this song is very harmonious and has musicality because the pattern scheme used is mostly
regular. Then, we can observe some anaphorical parallelism and repetition that provide an effect of
accumulation and insistence. In the first paragraph, we deal with many negative views of love that are
going to evolve.

Secondly, we can see literary devices like an extended metaphor (lines 1-8) where the author
compares love to different things such as a river, a razor, hunger... We see that in the first paragraph,
the vision of love is very negative (except the last two verses that compare love with a rose ; this
refers to the title), which contrasts with the second one where we can find personifications that are
still negative but in a different way. We can find phrases like « It’s the heart, afraid of breaking, that
never learns to dance » or « It’s the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes the chance. » With
these personifications, Bette Midler wants to show us that the problems of love can also be people’s
fault, unlike in the first paragraph where love was naturally depicted.

Finally, the last paragraph is different from the other two because it has a different structure and
mood. We can see a parallelism : « When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too
long » (lines 16-17). With these verses, there is a rupture of the structure that we have seen in the
last two paragraphs where love was compared to an item. On top of that, we can see a metaphor at
the end of the poem : « Lies the seed that with the sun’s love In the spring becomes the rose, »
where we can see hope and another reference to the title, as in the first paragraph. In both of these
references, the mood is more joyful.

In conclusion, the author, Bette Midler, wants to show us that love may be hard but there is always
hope, and that with patience, everything will come to you. This poem may be a little bit cliché
because it repeats the same discourse of love and its consequences over and over, but it conveys a
happy moral. We can connect this poem to « The Four Ages of Love » by Norman Rockwell, where he
reminds us of the importance of companionship.

My text improved to a C1 level

« The Rose » is a love song composed by the talented Bette Midler in the 1980s. This song delves into
the multifaceted nature of love and its profound impact on people, ultimately emphasizing that love,
despite its complexities, prevails in the end.

To begin with, this song exhibits a remarkable harmony and musicality due to its predominantly
regular pattern scheme. Additionally, it employs anaphorical parallelism and repetition, creating a
cumulative and emphatic effect. In the initial stanza, we encounter a plethora of negative portrayals
of love, which subsequently evolve.

Furthermore, Bette Midler employs various literary devices, most notably an extended metaphor
(lines 1-8), where she compares love to various entities such as a river, a razor, and hunger. In the first
stanza, love is depicted negatively, except for the final two verses that associate love with a rose, in
alignment with the song’s title. This shift in imagery contrasts with the second stanza, which
introduces personifications. These personifications continue to convey negativity but in a distinct
manner. Phrases like « It’s the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance » or « It’s the
dream, afraid of waking, that never takes the chance » reveal that the challenges of love can also be
attributed to human actions, unlike the initial portrayal where love appeared inherently challenging.

Notably, the final stanza diverges from the previous two in terms of structure and mood. It features
parallelism with the lines, « When the night has been too lonely, and the road has been too long »
(lines 16-17). This divergence disrupts the structural pattern observed in the preceding stanzas,
where love was likened to various objects. Additionally, a metaphor at the end of the poem
resonates : « Lies the seed that with the sun’s love In the spring becomes the rose, » infusing the
narrative with hope and further invoking the song’s title, as seen in the initial stanza. In both
instances of referencing the rose, the mood takes on a more jubilant tone.

In conclusion, Bette Midler endeavors to convey the idea that while love may present challenges,
hope endures, and patience ultimately leads to fruition. This poem, though at times adhering to
familiar themes of love, delivers a heartening moral. It can be linked to Norman Rockwell’s « The Four
Ages of Love, » where Rockwell underscores the significance of companionship, reinforcing the
enduring theme of love’s resilience.