The poem, “Love is Like the Wild-Rose Briar,” authored by Emily Bronte, dramatizes the conflict between the brevity of love and the perpetuity of friendship. The narrator juxtaposes a rose bush, which symbolizes love, with a holly tree, which symbolizes friendship. The narrator illustrates the appearance of the two as “[t]he holly is dark when the rose-briar blooms” (Bronte 3) and then fixates on the seasonal growth of the rose. Subsequently, the narrator invokes the reader and asks them as to “which will bloom more constantly?” (Bronte 4). Although the rose is alluring in spring, and it's fragrant in summer, winter will cause it to wither and lose it's beauty. The narrator ultimately prefers to rebuke love and .surround oneself with friends. The narrators begins by comparing love to a “wild rose-briar” (Bronte 1) and friendship to a “holly tree” (Bronte 2).The narrator's usage of comparison that evokes nature is to guide the audience in manifesting the realities of the holly…show more content… Using alliteration to aid in the animation of the stanza, the narrator notes how the rose is “sweet in spring” (Bronte 5) denoting the delight of the rose in its nascence in Spring which evokes birth. Then, in the summer, the rose's “blossoms scent the air” (Bronte 6). The use of olfactory imagery immerses the reader into the development of the rose. Summer connotes a sense of warmth and freedom so it is appropriate to imagine that the blossoms are permeating the air. However, the narrator commands, “wait till winter comes again” (Bronte 7) and challenges, “who will call the rose-briar fair?” (Bronte 8). Winter terminates the growth of the rose and since it is unlike the perennial holly tree, the ephemeral rose withers away until Spring returns. The shift in the poem occurs here since the opposition between the rose and the holly tree is
