Reminders of Love Lost in Wraith of the Rose

Reminders of Love Lost in Wraith of the Rose

Everyone has been hurt by loves sweet embrace. The memories that are left behind can haunt us everyday. The music, dreams, smells, a name, or a rose can strike up memories of ones love lost. But when love leaves you alone, the memories and the ghosts of love are never gone. There is always something to trigger thoughs memories bad or good. Something that needs to be known about the poem is that it was written impromptu in a visiting card.

The Wraith of the Rose by Frances Sargent Locke Osgood is a poem of how a ghost of a rose reminds her of a life that she loved. The word wraith means; 1) the ghost of a dead person (or a dead rose) or 2) something shadowy and insubstantial. The line near the beginning of the poem "Long since Love's rose, it's perfume, shed," shows how that Love's rose is long since died. The fragrant aroma and its pedals are gone. Nothing that can be touched the rose is nothing but a memory. She has focused on a rose that reminds her of Love. By reading this poem closely the word LOVE in the poem is a persons name. In both lines of the poem Love is capitalized which leads the reader to assume it is someone's name. Like in the line above how it is written that "Love's rose," this leads me to understand that she is identifying the rose that was given to her by someone named Love. This is one of the main ways that the author remembers Love is by the rose that was given to her by him.

The main line that directs the poems feelings is "The wraith of Love's sweet Rose is here, It haunts me everywhere! ". The ghost of "Love's sweet rose" is in my life and mind. The ghost of that rose is in my presents and is with her everywhere she goes.

Osgood wishes that she kept the rose to remind her of Love's life. All that she has to hold onto is the memory (ghost) of that lovely rose that was given to her by Love. The rose was the last found token that was given to her by Love.