Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet;
And so are you.
This is the stereotypical poem. Its origins are unknown, but may, according to Wikipedia, be traced to these lines from Sir Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene:
It was upon a Sommers shynie day,
When Titan faire his beames did display,
In a fresh fountaine, farre from all mens vew,
She bath'd her brest, the boyling heat t'allay;
She bath'd with roses red, and violets blew,
And all the sweetest flowres, that in the forrest grew.
"Blew" is an old spelling of "blue". Both roses and violets exist in varieties of many colours. Viola sororia and Viola odorata are the bluest violets; red roses are hybrid teas of the genus Rosa.
It has often been parodied. For a selection of such parodies and variants mostly written by tropers, see the Quotes page.
Comic Books
Roses are red
When the guard is a sucker!
Lemons do pucker
Prisoners escape—The Adventures of Captain Jack
Fan Works
roses r red
nd hey u natsy slut i fucin luv u
violas r blu
iv got a hug fuking dik
Film
Roses are red,
So what else is new?
violets are blue ...
I'm about to fuck up.—Colin, Greenfingers
Cirrhosis are red,
So so are you.
So violets are blue,
So sugar is sweet,
Roses are red,
Fuck you, whore
violets are blue—Tom, 500 Days of Summer
Roses are red,
To identify you.
Violets are blue,
They'll need dental records
Roses are red,
and so am I.
violets are blue,
I'm schizophrenic,
Literature
Roses are red
And ready for high school.
And ready for plucking;
You are sixteen
Raseuse arrête, valet de Tsar bat loups
Joues gare et suite, un sot voyou.—Mots d'Heures: Gousses, Rames[1]
Roses are red,
You'll die too!
Corpses are blue,
On Valentine's day—R. L. Stine, "Broken Hearts"
Roses are red, violets are blue,
Angels in heaven know I love you
Magazines
Roses are red
Your stylist should be sued
The hoisery's nude
This dress is heinous—Bullseye, Entertainment Weekly, Issue #1197
Roses are red
On clods like you!
Violets are blue
We make our bread—Mad Magazine, "A Valentine to all our readers", #133
Music
Roses are red, yes, and violets are blue.
The other's for innocence; for that, I'm not fussed.
I looked for both, but they never grew.
Roses are red, yes, and that stands for lust --—Zoe's Adventures Under Ground, "River Rise Over"
Roses are red,
And so's maple surple.
Violets are purple,
Sugar is sweet,—Roger Miller, "Dang Me"
Roses are red, violets are blue
Where teardrops fall
And time is beginning to crawl
I just might have to come see you—Bob Dylan (no, really), "Where Teardrops Fall"
Roses are red, my love.
Good luck, may God bless you."
Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet, my love.
But not as sweet as you.
Then I went far away and you found someone new.
I read your letter dear, and I wrote back to you:
"Roses are red, my love.
Violets are blue.
Sugar is sweet, my love.—Bobby Vinton, "Roses Are Red (My Love)"
Roses are red
But not as sweet as you
And violets are blue
Honey is sweet—Aqua, "Roses Are Red" (Different song, same title.)
Violets are blue
The flowers are dead.
Roses are red
Daisies are yellow—Lil Wayne, "I Feel Like Dying"
The rose is red,
Sweetie, so are you!
Violets are blue,
Sugar's sweet;—George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin & Gus Kahn, "So Are You"
Roses are red
I was blue, too.
Violets are blue
Until I met Psalty—Psaltina, Kids Praise 3: Funtastic Family!
Roses are red
Then I am too
Violets are blue
If I'm schizophrenic—Voltaire, "The Chosen"
For Jean, Jean, roses are red.
And all of the leaves have gone green.—Oliver, "Jean (Theme from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)"
Newspaper Comics
Roses are red,
A deep crimson hue,
When you got in trouble,
You sure were too! Ha ha! [2]
And:
Roses are red,
Woo-woo!
Violets are blue,
Tulips are what we'll be kissing,
Roses are Red
And your family too.
Violets are Blue
I know where you live
Roses are red
Violets are blue
If something smells bad
it's gotta be you.
Roses are red
Emeralds are green
You must weigh more
Than a washing machine.
Roses are red,
tomatoes are too
If I had one now
I'd throw it at you.
Roses are red
Like a big fiery comet
Your face would make even
Quasimodo vomit.
Roses are red
Daffodils gold
You might look better
If you scraped off that mold.
Television
Roses are red
We'd all be Jewish
Violets are bluish
If it weren't for Christmas
Roses are red
I'm gonna break your face
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet—The Champ, Police Squad!!
Violets are blue
Go soak your head
Roses are red
My sons were right—Carey Martin, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Roses are red
Here's some fudge.
Violets are blue
Fudge is sweet—Bob Pinciotti, That '70s Show
Roses are red
And I'll break your neck
Violets are blue
Have sex in the Corps—Deacon Jones, G Vs E
Roses are red
All you'll have left is this nickel
Violets are fickle
When I'm done with you—Maris Crane, Frasier
Video Games
Roses are gray
I'm dead and color-blind.
Violets are gray—Forsaken male /silly emote, World of Warcraft
Roses are red
Doodley-doo
Violets are blue
I'm gonna kill you—Gargarensis, Age of Mythology
Violets are blue
Prepare to eat lead
Roses are red
We're coming aboard—A book of pirate poems, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
Roses are red
So you know I'm true
Zombies are blue
But my face is white[5]—Eriko, Revelations Persona
Roses are red
You suck
Violets are blue—Graffiti written below an over-the-top poem in Left 4 Dead
Web Comics
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
You're really hot,
Let's fuck.
Roses be red,
Violence be bloody,
Littleton kid went
Killing with his buddy.
Una-bomber! Oklahoma!
Fire down ho!
Sharks in da gene pool,
North of Kosovo!
Everyone's packing,
So I'll pack my nickel bag,
Gonna get my peace on and offer yas a drag.—Monique, Sinfest February 2, 2000: Beat Poet 2
Roses are red
Daisies are yellow
(gets briefly interrupted)
I am in love with
A nerdy young fellow.
Roses are red,
Violets are violet.
Here's the Zorgon spies,
Yo momma's a harlot.
Roses are red
I give them to mom
She makes me cookies
Nommy nom noms
You need a poem? Fine!
Roses are red
Green is the grass
I'm sorry I hurt you
I'm a horse's ass.
If you need a haiku, just remember "peace-shattering moron" is six syllables.—Fred Macintire (advising Lisa), Something*Positive
Roses are red,
Violets are blue.
Shut your face,
It's an ugly face.
Web Original
Roses are red
Violets are blue
One day we'll cruise
Down Blood Gulch Avenue—First verse of the Red vs. Blue theme
Roses are red,
Doo dee doo dee doo.
Violets; they're blue,
Jimmy Stewart is awesome;
roses = '#ff0000';
violets = '#0000ff';
find ~ -name base -exec chown -R you {} \;—Chaos Computer Club
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Your house is covered
In piles of excrement—Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, reviewing Saint's Row 2
Roses are <span style=" color:
- ff0000;">#FF0000
Violets are <span style=" color:
- 0000ff;">#0000FF
Roses are red
The Crisseagrim's blue
You're a miserable pile of secrets
But enough talk, have at you!
Roses are red.
The cake is a lie.
My name is Ash, housewares. *chk chk*
Prepare to Die!
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I must eat yoghurt
Off of you.
Roses are scarlet,
Violets are purple,
My love for you is...
is...
Goddammit.
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I am Paini's Cupcake,
I will eat you.—YouTube comments
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Omae wa mou,
Shindeiru.—YouTube comments
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
People are idiots,
The end.
Western Animation
"Roses are red, violets are blue."
That's what they say, but it just isn't true.
Roses are red, and apples are too,
But violets are violet. Violets aren't blue.
An orange is orange, but Greenland's not green
And a pinky's not pink. So what does it mean?
To call something blue when it's not, we defile it.
But ah, what the heck: it's hard to rhyme "violet".—Dot Warner, Animaniacs
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
If I had your face,
I'd be in a zoo.—Roy Rooster, Garfield and Friends
Roses are blue
Violets are red
I have to go to the bathroom—Patrick Star, SpongeBob SquarePants
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
[belches] THIS BELCH IS FOR YOUUUU!!!—Heffer Wolfe, Rocko's Modern Life
The movies are gray
The TV is black
The horses are running
Please bring me some food—Heinz Doofenshmirtz, Phineas and Ferb
Roses R Red
Roses R Blue
It's time for Poet's Corner!—Intro to the poetry segment of Cartoon Planet
Roses are red,
Violets are blue
If skunks had a college,
They'd call it P.U.—Looney Tunes, "Hollywood Canine Canteen"(1946)
Roses are red,
Violets are pink,
Flowers smell good,
But you sure sCENSORED!—Telegram delivered by Bugs Bunny, "Buckaroo Bugs" (Bugs then finished the line by shouting it in the recipient's face. The final word is of course, STINK!)
Roses are red,
Posies are green,
Sorry about Denmark,
I was too mean.—Hans, The Penguins of Madagascar
Roses are red,
But Morton is blue.
Boo hoo hoo hoo
(face into typewriter)—Mr. Morton, Schoolhouse Rock
Roses are red,
violets are blue,
turtles are geeks,
and so are you—The Populars, KaBlam!
Robotnik is rotten,
Alfalfa is sneezy;
The minute I met her,
I loved my Breezie.
- ↑ The editor, Luis d'Antin van Rooten, explains this as "a description of an incident at the Russian Imperial court", but the French text is better pronounced than translated.
- ↑ Calvin sends Susie this note to taunt her after she gets in trouble for talking in class, provoking her into writing another note and getting in trouble again
- ↑ Jason's Valentines to Paige accidentally get switched with Roger's to Andy. Hilarity Ensues
- ↑ The author is looking for a word that rhymes but is less "trite"
- ↑ Or, in the Updated Rerelease, "But I don't want brains"
- ↑ referring to the Ghost Writer's Quantum Keyboard