The HyperTexts
"Sweet Rose of Virtue": a modern English translation of "Sweit Rois of Vertew" by William Dunbar
with an Analysis by the translator
This is my modern English translation of "Sweet Rose of Virtue," an
exquisite but bittersweet love poem in the amour courtois (courtly
love) and carpe diem (seize the day) traditions. This amazing poem was written by the early Scottish master William Dunbar
[circa 1460-1530], who has been called the Poet Laureate of the court of King James
IV of Scotland. I chose to translate the poem to make it more accessible to readers who
prefer modern English to Ye Olde Englishe and Ye Auld Scots. I have also
included translator's notes and a synopsis and
analysis for students and scholars who want
to explore the poem's roots and methods of composition. You can also find
my translation of Dunbar's most famous poem, "Lament for the Makaris ['Makers' or
poets]" in the links at the bottom of this page. If you like Dunbar's poetry as
much as I hope and expect that you will, you may also want to check out my
translations/modernizations of select poems by Robert Burns [1759-1796], the most famous of the Scotts-English
dialect poets. Dunbar and Burns prove that the best Scottish poetry ranks with the very best poetry ever written, anywhere in the
world. Since I have Scottish blood, that makes me pleased and proud.―Michael R. Burch
For explanations of how he translates and why he calls his results "loose
translations" and "interpretations" please click here:
Michael R. Burch Translation
Methods and Credits to Other Translators
Sweet Rose of Virtue
by William Dunbar
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Sweet rose of virtue and of gentleness,
delightful lily of wanton loveliness,
richest in bounty and in beauty clear
and in every virtue men hold most dear,
except only that you are merciless.
Into your garden, today, I followed you;
there I found flowers of freshest hue,
both white and red, delightful to see,
and wholesome herbs, waving resplendently,
yet nowhere one leaf nor petal of rue.
I fear that March with his last arctic blast
has slain my fair flower and left her downcast;
whose piteous death does my heart such pain
that I long to plant love's root again―
so comforting her bowering leaves have been.
If the tenth line seems confusing, it helps to know that rue symbolizes
pity and also has medicinal uses; thus I believe the unrequiting lover is being
accused of a lack of compassion and perhaps of withholding her healing
(i.e., sexual) attentions. The penultimate line can be taken as a rather naughty double
entendre, but I will leave that interpretation up to the reader! I believe
Dunbar meant the rose to symbolize the female vulva and "rute" to suggest
intercourse. If this interests you, I have published some astute commentary by
Bob Zisk after my analysis of the poem.
Synopsis and Analysis
The poem's speaker compares his would-be lover to the lilies and roses
in her garden. Lilies and roses symbolize both feminine
beauty and the female virtues of pity, mercy, compassion and tenderness. Lilies and roses are also associated with the Virgin Mary,
and thus have spiritual connotations. Like the Virgin Mary, the speaker's
desired lover is perfect in beauty and virtue. However, the speaker complains that he
has found one thing lacking in both the garden and in her: rew (rue, or
pity).
Rue is a heavily scented evergreen plant used for medicinal purposes, and it has
bright yellow flowers. So rue would be very easy to spot, if it were present.
Due to its healing properties, rue symbolizes the qualities of pity, mercy and
compassion. So a woman lacking rue lacks compassion. But here the poet may not be
accusing the woman of being cold-hearted in general; rather, he may be
trying to encourage her to prove her "compassion" by sleeping with him!
(The poem
is, perhaps, a bit of an "inside" joke.) This is because, due to their
shapes, the rose and lily can suggest and symbolize the female vulva. Also, rue
can have sexual connotations itself, as Bob Zisk explains in his commentary.
In the final stanza, the speaker fears
that a "cold spell" has killed something: either rue/compassion or
perhaps his lover's heart and metaphorically their love. Dunbar closes by expressing his wish to plant
a "root" again, by which he is presumably alluding to intercourse. But he links
this root planting to the comfort of sheltering
leaves, which represent the rebirth of compassion, so it seems he wants more
than just sex. Dunbar apparently also desires companionship and tenderness. The
poem ends on a sad but tender note. While the poem could be a joke of sorts, its
style of composition and evocative plea for companionship make it seem more like a bittersweet love poem to me.
Translator's Notes and Interpretation
"Sweet Rose of Virtue" is a poem in the amour
courtois (courtly love) and carpe diem (seize the day) traditions.
William Dunbar [c. 1460-1525] was a court poet in the
household of King James IV of Scotland, so he would have been well aware of the
courtly love poetic tradition, in which romantic love was portrayed as
simultaneously passionate, erotic, chivalric and spiritual. A common conceit
within this tradition was that when a woman chose not to make love to her
suitor, she was "unfeeling" and sans merci ("without mercy").
For instance, the poem "Merciles Beaute" which has been attributed to Geoffrey
Chaucer, a poet Dunbar admired.
In
carpe diem poems, poets often personified Time, using "his" projected
ravages to urge women to abandon their defenses and quickly yield to their
"unfairly" spurned suitors. Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" and Robert
Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" are other famous carpe diem
poems. Just how serious the male courtiers were about all this, is hard to say.
They may have been like male peacocks strutting around, showing off their
extravagant tail feathers in elaborate mating rituals. Or the poems could have
been primarily witty, tongue-in-cheek jokes. Or the poets
could have been expressing real sentiments with healthy doses of irony.
But in any case, "Sweet Rose of
Virtue" is one of the very best poems within its genres. According to Tom Scott,
author of Dunbar: A Critical Exposition of the Poems, it is
"Dunbar's most perfect lyric, and one of the supreme lyrics in Scots and
English. The three five-line stanzas move with exquisite grace and smoothness of
rhythm, no word, no syllable superfluous or misplaced, no phrase awkwardly
turned, no image or thought jarring the mood." However, I think one of the
more confusing (and potentially jarring) things about the original poem for
modern readers is the poet's use of "him" in the third stanza, in reference to
the herb rue (you can see this usage in the original text below). Since we no
longer think of herbs, flowers or virtues like compassion as masculine entities,
it seems very odd to hear the poet longing to "plant his [i.e., the male herb's]
root again." But when the language was older, this was acceptable, and may have
allowed Dunbar to engage in a clever double entendre. To avoid
confusion, and because I believe there is unity in the poet's vision of the
woman, the garden, the flowers and the virtues, I have taken the liberty of
replacing the male herb with the female rose. And I have used the phrase "plant
love's root" to preserve the clever double entendre without the gender
confusion.
Original Poem
Sweet Rois of Vertew
Literal Translation by Michael R. Burch [bracketed words are not in the original text, but
may help the sense]
SWEIT rois of vertew and of gentilnes,
SWEET rose of virtue and of gentleness,
Delytsum lillie of everie lustynes,
Delightful lily of every lustiness, [Delightful lily of wanton loveliness,]
Richest in bontie and in bewtie cleir,
Richest in bounty and in beauty clear,
And everie vertew that is deir,
And [in] every virtue that is [held] dear,
Except onlie that ye are mercyles,
Except only that you are merciless,
Into your garthe this day I did persew;
Into your [private, enclosed] garden this day I did pursue;
Thair saw I flowris that fresche wer of hew;
There I saw flowers that were fresh of hue;
Baithe quhyte and rid, moist lusty wer to seyne,
Both white and red, [the] most lusty to be seen,
And halesum herbis upone stalkis grene;
And wholesome herbs [waving] upon stalks [of] green;
Yit leif nor flour fynd could I nane of rew.
Yet leaf nor flower could I find: none of rue. [Yet not a leaf nor flower could
I find, of rue.]
I dout that Merche, with his cauld blastis keyne,
I fear that March, with his cold blasts keen,
Hes slane this gentill herbe, that I of mene;
Has slain this gentle herb, the one I mean; [this one of mine;]
Quhois petewous deithe dois to my hart sic pane
Whose piteous death does my heart such pain
That I wald mak to plant his rute agane,—
That I would endeavor to plant his [love's] root again,—
So confortand his levis unto me bene.
So comforting his [those] leaves unto me have been.
My Original Translation, with Alternate Lines
In lines with alternates, the one I chose for the original translation
appears first.
Sweet Rose of Virtue, Original Translation
by William Dunbar
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Sweet rose of virtue and of gentleness,
delightful lily of wanton loveliness, // Delightful lily of every lustiness,
richest in bounty and in beauty clear
and in every virtue that men hold dear, // and in every virtue men hold most
dear,
except only that you are merciless.
Into your garden, today, I followed you
through lustrous flowers of freshest hue, // there I saw/found flowers of
freshest hue,
both white and red, delightful to see,
and wholesome herbs, waving resplendently,
yet nowhere, one leaf nor petal of rue. // yet nowhere a single petal of
rue. // yet everywhere, no odor but rue. // yet everywhere, not a petal but rue.
I fear that March with his last arctic blast
has slain my fair flower of pallid and gentle cast, //
has slain my fair rose/flower of pallid and gentle cast, // has slain my fair
flower and left her downcast;
whose piteous death does my heart such pain
that, if I could, I would plant love's root again, // that, if I could, I would
compose her roots again, // that, if I could, I would nurture love's root/her
roots again,
so comforting her bowering leaves have been.
THE LANGUAGE OF WILLIAM DUNBAR
by Michael R. Burch
William Dunbar wrote poems in the native language of lowland Scotland. This
language is called Scots, or more accurately, Middle Scots. Scots was a
Germanic language that, like English, had its roots in Anglian, a language
employed by Anglo-Saxons who settled in England and Scotland after the departure
of the Roman legions from the island in the sixth century AD. The Angles and
Saxons were Germanic tribes. So many Angles settled in England that they gave
the island its name: "England" means "Angle-land." The Saxons gave their name to
Saxony. The Scots language evolved side-by-side with its English cousin during
pre-medieval times. In its earliest form, Scots was called "Inglis." As
Anglo-Saxon settlements in the lowlands expanded, Inglis displaced Gaelic as the
primary language of the natives. Inglis evolved in the lowlands even as English
evolved into a very different language in regions to the south. In Northumbria,
which lay just to the south of Edinburgh and was Scotland's closest neighbor,
English evolved into the Northern dialect of Middle English. The name of the
Scottish language was eventually changed to "Scots," presumably to avoid
confusion between Inglis and English.
WILLIAM DUNBAR BIO AND TIMELINE
by Michael R. Burch
William Dunbar [c. 1460-1530] was one of the greatest Scottish poets, usually
ranked second only to Robert Burns. Some, however, rank Dunbar first. For
example, Sir Walter Scott said Dunbar was "unrivalled" by any other Scottish
poet. Dunbar has been called "the dominant figure among the Scottish Chaucerians"
during the "Golden Age of Scottish poetry."
Dunbar has been called "the
Scottish Chaucer," "the Scottish Skelton" and the Poet Laureate of the court of
King James IV of Scotland. He was a Scottish makar (maker, or poet) who
wrote in an ancient Middle Scots dialect that was fairly close to the English of his
day. According to James Paterson, one of his biographers, Dunbar was "a poet of
extraordinary merit" who "has been compared with Chaucer: less pathetic, but
richer in the variety and quality of his imagination, humour, and powers of
description."
John Conlee, who edited William Dunbar: The Complete Works, wrote in his
introduction: "Dunbar belongs to a significant group of late-medieval Scottish
poets who are generally known as the Middle Scots Poets or the Scottish Makars,
a group that includes the author of The Kingis Quair (possibly James I
of Scotland), Richard Holland, Robert Henryson, Gavin Douglas, and Sir David
Lindsay. Henryson and Dunbar are usually considered the two major writers from
among the Middle Scots Poets and are often viewed as being two of the most
important figures in fifteenth-century British literature. Dunbar, moreover, may
lay claim to being the finest lyric poet writing in English in the century and a
half between the death of Chaucer in 1400 and the appearance of Tottel's
Miscellany in 1557."
I might argue that, at his best in poems like
Sweet Rose of Virtue, Dunbar rivals Chaucer and Sir Thomas Wyatt,
the star of Tottel's Miscellany, for lyric poetry. And that's saying a
lot, because I have tremendous regard for Chaucer and Wyatt.
Dunbar's reputation as a poet depends on around 80 to 100 poems, a few with
disputed authorship. Many of the poems are associated with the court of the
Scottish king James IV. James IV reigned from 1488 to 1513 and is considered to
have been the most successful of the Stewart kings of Scotland. His
accomplishments include doubling the crown's revenues, the founding of two royal
dockyards, and the acquisition or construction of 38 ships, including the
Michael, the largest warship of its day.
Not a lot is known about William Dunbar's life. It is generally believed that he
was born in the East Lothian area of southeastern Scotland sometime between 1450
and 1460, and that he died sometime between 1520 and 1530. Denton Fox has argued
for a birth date of c. 1456 and a death date of c. 1513.
Dunbar was "probably of the family of the earls of Dunbar and March." That
educated guess is about all we know of his early life. Dunbar probably came from
a good family, and that would explain the degrees he earned, his appointment to
the priesthood, and his place in the royal court. Dunbar became an especial
favorite of Margaret Tudor, the elder sister of King Henry VIII. She
became Queen of Scotland when she married James IV in 1503. Dunbar's closeness
to the Queen can be seen in his poem "Ane Dance in the Quenis Chalmer" in which
he names a number of her attendants and places himself among them. Dunbar may
have served as a chaplain in the royal household.
The records of the University of Saint Andrews tell us that a William Dunbar was
a "determinant" (a new student) in 1474, that he obtained his bachelor's degree
in 1477, and that he received his master of arts degree in 1479. The
commonly-estimated birth date of 1460 is based on the fact that first-year
students at Saint Andrews were generally around 14 years old.
Sometime around 1480 or possibly later it is believed that Dunbar may have been
a roving Franciscan friar based on what he wrote himself, but this is not
certain. It does seem clear that he served as a priest and chaplain, from
certain historical records. One reason to believe Dunbar was a priest is
that in some of his poems he asked to be appointed to an office in the church,
which he called a "benefice." He even asked to be appointed a bishop, although
that may have been more joking than serious.
In 1492, while Christopher Columbus was discovering the New World, the Scottish
courtier William Dunbar was accompanying an embassy to Denmark and France in the
king's service, possibly as a secretary.
In 1500, Dunbar secured a royal pension.
From 1501 to 1502 it is possible that Dunbar was among a group of Scots who
helped make arrangements for the marriage of James IV to Princess Margaret, the
daughter of the English King Henry VII. We know Dunbar was in England around
this time because the Treasurer's Accounts show that a payment was made to him
in 1501 "efter he com furth of Ingland." But this is conjecture based on what
happened in 1503...
In 1503, Dunbar wrote poems for the wedding of James IV and Margaret Tudor. One
poem welcomed Margaret to Scotland when she arrived in Edinburgh. Dunbar also
composed a famous allegorical celebration of the wedding, "The Thrissill and the
Rois" (The Thistle and the Rose). This poem is a dream vision based on Geoffrey
Chaucer's "Parlement of Foules" in which the dreamer attends a great gathering
of animals and birds presided over by Nature. Nature makes the Lion the king of
the beasts, the Eagle the king of the birds, and the Thistle the king of the
plants, with all three representing James IV. The rose represents Margaret and
Dunbar praises her beauty and her virtue. Dunbar's lovely poem
Sweet Rose of Virtue was also published around this time. Did he
also write it for Scotland's new queen?
In 1507, Dunbar's pension was doubled to 20 pounds per year.
In 1508, Dunbar had several poems published, including The Dance of the
Sevin Deidly Synnis, The Goldyn Targe,
Lament for the Makaris and The Tretis of the Tua Mariit Wemen.
Several of Dunbar's poems were included in the first books to be printed in
Scotland, now known as the the Chepman and Myllar Prints. Poems by John Lydgate
and Robert Henryson were also included.
In 1510, Dunbar's pension was increased to a handsome 80 pounds, so he was
evidently held in high regard by King James.
In 1511 he accompanied the Queen to Aberdeen and celebrated that visit in the
poem Blyth Aberdeen.
The last reliable reference to Dunbar appears in the Treasurer's accounts for
May 1513, where he is recorded receiving payment of his pension. There is a gap
in the Treasurer's records after James IV and many of his earls, bishops and
abbots perished at the Battle of Flodden on September 9, 1513. That was
the largest battle fought between Scotland and England. The loss of the king and
a large part of the nobility led to a political crisis in Scotland. When the
Treasurer's accounts resumed in 1515 there was no mention of Dunbar. Did he die
at Flodden? No one knows.
It seems certain, however, that Dunbar died no later than 1530, when Sir David
Lindsey wrote his Testament of Papyngo in which he laments the deaths
of the great Scottish poets, including Dunbar.
As a court poet, Dunbar produced ceremonial and occasional verse about events at
the royal court. However, he wrote poems about other subjects as well. Dunbar
was well-versed (pardon the pun) in the major literary traditions of
late-medieval France and England, including love lyrics, dream visions and
satires. During his stint as a paid court poet in the royal household, Dunbar wrote
religious poems, hymns, commemorative and occasional poems, laments, orisons,
allegories, satires, comedies and poems of courtly love like "Sweet Rose of
Virtue." He even wrote "naughty" poems that used ribald and profane language.
Here is an earlier version of my translation ...
Sweet Rose of Virtue
by William Dunbar [c. 1460-1525]
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
(an earlier version)
Sweet rose of virtue and of gentleness,
delightful lily of youthful wantonness,
richest in bounty and in beauty clear
and in every virtue that is held most dear―
except only that you are merciless.
Into your garden, today, I followed you;
there I saw flowers of freshest hue,
both white and red, delightful to see,
and wholesome herbs, waving resplendently―
yet everywhere, not a leaf nor flower of rue.
I fear that March with his last arctic blast
has slain my fair rose of pallid and gentle cast,
whose piteous death does my heart such pain
that, if I could, I would compose her roots again―
so comforting her bowering leaves have been.
COMMENTARY BY BOB ZISK
Regarding “rose" as a symbol of purity, the continuation of Roman de la Rose
seems to set the stage for the equivalence of rose and vulva. Even before the
Roman we have good testimony for the sexualization of the rose in St. Benard's
diatribes against Rosamund Clifford, whom he characterizes not as Rosa Mundi
(Rose of the World, Rose of Cleanliness) but rather Rosa Immune (Rose of Filth).
Of course this last paragraph of mine is offered as additional support for the
sexual pun which you have already supported, and seems to bolster “rute" as a
phallic symbol and the notion of planting the root as a phrase for sexual
intercourse. Of course “rute" can do double duty for the sexualization of the
lady by analogy to “ruta,” a Latin term for “rue" with which Dunbar would have
been familiar from its occurrence in such standard authors as Pliny the Elder,
Ovid and Martial.
Here is a citation from Lewis and Short:
rūta, ae, f., = ῥυτή (cf. Varr. L. L. 5, § 103 Müll.)
I. a bitter herb, rue.
I. Lit., Cic. Fam. 9, 22, 3; Col. 11, 3, 38; 12, 7, 5; Plin. 19, 8, 45, § 156;
20, 13, 51, § 131; Ov. R. Am. 801; Mart. 11, 31, 17; 52, 8.—*
II. Trop., bitterness, unpleasantness:
“cras exspecto Leptam, ad cujus rutam pulegio mihi tui sermonis utendum est,”
Cic. Fam. 16, 23, 2.
Here is a line from Ovid's Remedium Amoris:
Utilius sumas acuentes lumina rutas… (Ra 801)
You would do well to take rue which restores clarity to the eyes.
There is a bit of sexual wisdom in this line, in that it proceeds from the old
belief that the eyes are the gateway of love.
If you want to learn more about the origins of English poetry, please check out
English Poetic Roots: A Brief History of Rhyme.
The following are links to other translations of Old English poems by Michael R. Burch:
Lament for the Makaris
also by William Dunbar
Robert Burns
the greatest of the modern Scots-English dialect poets
Scottish poetry translations by Michael R. Burch
Wulf and Eadwacer
perhaps the first great lyric poem in the English language, and
probably by a female poet
How Long the Night
another great early English lyric poem
Caedmon's Hymn
perhaps the first poem written in the English language that is
still extant today
The Wife's Lament
one of the first great English storytelling poems written in a
woman's voice
Deor's Lament
another of the first great storytelling poems in the English
language
Other translations by Michael R. Burch:
Ancient Greek Epigrams and Epitaphs
Basho
Oriental Masters/Haiku
Sappho
Miklós Radnóti
Rainer Maria Rilke
Renée Vivien
Ono no Komachi
Allama Iqbal
Bertolt Brecht
Ber Horvitz
Paul Celan
Primo Levi
Tegner's Drapa
Ahmad Faraz
Sandor Marai
Wladyslaw Szlengel
Miryam (Miriam) Ulinover
Itzhak (Yitzkhak) Viner
The HyperTexts