John Boyle O’Reilly in his poem “White Rose” explains the significance of colors in the life of people who are deeply and madly in love with each other. When the poet says “the red rose whispers of passion,and the white rose breathes of love;” he clearly states the fact that a red rose represents passion in love whereas a white rose represents pure love.
Red is an electric color and it obviously is significant to couples who are in love with each other. But the poet’s love towards his lover is so deep and pure that instead of sending a red rose or even a white rose he thinks of sending something totally different to the love of his life. He as a matter of fact sends a beautiful cream white rosebud with red tips and symbolizes the fact that how pure his love is. His gift has a deep hidden meaning for all the lovers today.
The hidden meaning through which the poet tries to convey his message to the readers is that passion is extremely essential in love but what is more important is the fact that purity should also be there. He wants the young people who are deeply in love to understand the fact that if God forbid, someday their love is devoid of passion ,will they still be madly in love with each other as they were before.