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The sentence "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem Sacred Emily, which appeared in the 1922 book Geography and Plays. In that poem, the first "Rose" is the name of a woman. Stein later used variations on the phrase in other writings, and "A rose is a rose is a rose" is probably her most famous quote, often interpreted as "things are what they are." In Stein's view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it. As the quote diffused through her own writing, and the culture at large, Stein once remarked "Now listen! I’m no fool. I know that in daily life we don’t go around saying 'is a … is a … is a …' Yes, I’m no fool; but I think that in that line the rose is red for the first time in English poetry for a hundred years." (Four in America)
Versions by Gertrude Stein
“Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” (Sacred Emily, Geography and Plays)
“Do we suppose that all she knows is that a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.” (Operas and Plays)
“... She would carve on the tree Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose until it went all the way around.” (The World is Round)
“A rose tree may be a rose tree may be a rosy rose tree if watered.” (Alphabets and Birthdays)
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Red Red Rose, by Harold Davis
Variations by others
* The sentence was parodied by Ernest Hemingway after a brief time in Paris seeking editorial suggestions for his writing: “a stone is a stein is a rock is a boulder is a pebble.” This also appears in his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, in which there is yet another parody: * “A rose is a rose is an onion.” After a (perhaps bitter) falling out, the phrase becomes, “a bitch is a bitch is a bitch is a bitch.”
* The phrase appears in the 1952 musical film Singin’ in the Rain, in the musical number “Moses Supposes.” While parodying a dialogue coach, the characters of Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown sing: “A Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose is / A rose is for Moses as potent as toeses / Couldn't be a lily or a daphi daphi dilli / It's gotta be a rose cuz it rhymes with mose!”
* In the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie (and its 1963 film adaptation), the character of Albert Peterson refers to the saying in the song “Rosie”, in which he sings, “Oh, I once heard a poem that goes / A rose is a rose is a rose / But I don't agree / Take it from me / There's one rose sweeter than any that grows!”
* In the 1978 film, The Magic of Lassie, Robert & Richard Sherman penned the song, “A Rose Is Not A Rose”.
* Bret Easton Ellis sent up the phrase in his 1991 novel American Psycho, as narrator Patrick Bateman utters, “a Rolls is a Rolls is a Rolls” during one of his frequent materialist stream-of-consciousness tirades
Wet red rose! by Nicole Besch
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