Gabriela Mistral

The Rose

The Rose - meaning Summary

Generosity as Healing Exchange

The poem urges readers to share their innermost riches—love, song, suffering—with others, using the rose as a metaphor for generous exchange. Giving away what is precious transforms personal pain into something the rose (and by extension others) can bear. The speaker warns that holding back leads to destructive inner heat. The tone is admonitory but tender, promoting openness and the healing potential of shared vulnerability.

Read Complete Analyses

The treasure at the heart of the rose is your own heart's treasure. Scatter it as the rose does: Your pain becomes hers to measure. Scatter it in a song, or in one great love's desire. Do not resist the rose lest you burn in its fire.

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