Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue

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Some variations are pulled off better than others.

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.

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Examples of Roses Are Red, Violets Are Blue in media:

Comic Books

Roses are red Lemons do pucker Prisoners escape When the guard is a sucker! —The Adventures of Captain Jack

Fan Fiction

roses r red violas r blu iv got a hug fuking dik nd hey u natsy slut i fucin luv u —Naruto Veangance Revelaitons

Film

Roses are red, violets are blue ... I'm about to fuck up. So what else is new? —Colin, Greenfingers

Cirrhosis are red, So violets are blue, So sugar is sweet, So so are you. —Horsefeathers

Roses are red, violets are blue Fuck you, whore —Tom, Five Hundred Days of Summer

Roses are red, Violets are blue, They'll need dental records To identify you. —Valentine

Roses are red, violets are blue, I'm schizophrenic, and so am I. —What About Bob

Roses are red, Violets are blue, One is dead, And so are you! —My Bloody Valentine

Literature

Roses are red And ready for plucking; You are sixteen And ready for high school. —Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

Raseuse arrête, valet de Tsar bat loups Joues gare et suite, un sot voyou. —Mots d'Heures: Gousses, Rames

Roses are red, Corpses are blue, On Valentine's day You'll die too! —R. L. Stine, "Broken Hearts"

Roses are red, violets are blue, Angels in heaven know I love you —Poul Anderson

Magazines

Roses are red The hoisery's nude This dress is heinous Your stylist should be sued —Bullseye, Entertainment Weekly, Issue #1197

Roses are red Violets are blue We make our bread On clods like you! —Mad Magazine, "A Valentine to all our readers", #133

Music

Roses are red, yes, and violets are blue. I looked for both, but they never grew. Roses are red, yes, and that stands for lust -- The other's for innocence; for that, I'm not fussed. —Zoe's Adventures Under Ground, "River Rise Over"

Roses are red, Violets are purple, Sugar is sweet, And so's maple surple. —Roger Miller, "Dang Me"

Roses are red, violets are blue And time is beginning to crawl I just might have to come see you Where teardrops fall —Bob Dylan (no, really), "Where Teardrops Fall"

Roses are red, my love. 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. Good luck, may God bless you." —Bobby Vinton, "Roses Are Red (My Love)"

Roses are red And violets are blue Honey is sweet But not as sweet as you —Aqua, "Roses Are Red" (Different song, same title.)

Violets are blue Roses are red Daisies are yellow The flowers are dead. —Lil Wayne, "I Feel Like Dying"

The rose is red, Violets are blue, Sugar's sweet; Sweetie, so are you! —George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin & Gus Kahn, "So Are You"

Roses are red Violets are blue Until I met Psalty I was blue, too. —Psaltina, Kids Praise 3: Funtastic Family!

Roses are red Violets are blue If I'm schizophrenic Then I am too —Voltaire, "The Chosen"

Newspaper Comics

Roses are red, A deep crimson hue, When you got in trouble, You sure were too! Ha ha!

And:

Roses are red, Violets are blue, Tulips are what we'll be kissing, Woo-woo! —Calvin and Hobbes

Roses are Red Violets are Blue I know where you live And your family too. —Sherman's Lagoon

Blue is the violet, Red is the rose; You're still a big jerk, And your poetry blows! —Zits

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.

Roses are red Looming huge to the ant; I wish you would drown In a waste treatment plant —FoxTrot

Roses are red And violets are blue Take care of that sciata Down by your (wazoo) —Frazz

Television

Roses are red Violets are bluish If it weren't for Christmas We'd all be Jewish —Benny Hill

Roses are red Violets are blue Sugar is sweet I'm gonna break your face —The Champ, Police Squad!!

Violets are blue Roses are red My sons were right Go soak your head —Carey Martin, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

Roses are red Violets are blue Fudge is sweet Here's some fudge. —Bob Pinciotti, That '70s Show

Roses are red Violets are blue Have sex in the Corps And I'll break your neck —Deacon Jones, G Vs E

Roses are red Violets are fickle When I'm done with you All you'll have left is this nickel —Maris Crane, Frasier

Video Games

Roses are gray Violets are gray I'm dead and color-blind. —Forsaken male /silly emote, World of Warcraft

Roses are red Violets are blue I'm gonna kill you Doodley-doo —Gargarensis, Age of Mythology

Violets are blue Roses are red We're coming aboard Prepare to eat lead —A book of pirate poems, Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

Roses are red Zombies are blue But my face is white So you know I'm true —Eriko, Revelations Persona

Roses are red Violets are blue You suck —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.

Roses are red, Violets are violet. Here's the Zorgon spies, Yo momma's a harlot. —Lodoze (parody of Lobo), Sluggy Freelance (22 June 2001)

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 Daisies are yellow (she's briefly interrupted) I am in love with A nerdy young fellow.

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 Violets are blue I'll fuck you with a rake —bash.org

Roses are red Violets are blue Badger badger badger Badger badger mushroom —bash.org

Roses are red, Violets; they're blue, Jimmy Stewart is awesome; Doo dee doo dee doo. —Jimmy Stewart (supposedly), How It Should Have Ended: Its a Wonderful Life

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 #FF0000 Violets are 0000FF All my base Are belong to you ThinkGeek

Roses are red The Crisseagrim's blue You're a miserable pile of secrets But enough talk, have at you!' —Anonymous

Roses are red. The cake is a lie. My name is Ash, housewares. *chk chk* Prepare to Die! [1]

Roses are red, Violets are blue, I must eat yoghurt Off of you. Dance of the Manwhore

Roses are scarlet, Violets are purple, My love for you is... is... Goddammit. I-Mockery.com

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. WTFIWWY Ep. 28

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, Ka Blam!

Robotnik is rotten, Alfalfa is sneezy; The minute I met her, I loved my Breezie. —Sonic the Hedgehog, in his love letter/poem parody to Breezie, Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog

Roses are red, violets are blue... Once these fry, I'm guessing this lame poem is... [destroys the keyboard, only to find that the poem spell is still working] through?! [cue Big No] —Danny Phantom