Dead Roses
The Meaning of Dead Roses – Dead Roses are a Universal Symbol of Despair
“…Yes, and the heart doth owe thee more love, dead rose!
Than to such roses bold, As Julia wears at dances, smiling cold!—-
Lie still upon this heart—-which breaks below thee!”
– By Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “A Dead Rose”
As Mrs. Browning, acknowledged in her poetry, dead roses have always had a sign of deep despair and the ending of heartfelt relationships. Dead roses can be used to express a surprising range of feelings. Dead roses can be given as gifts for variety of different occasions.
The dead roses your florist is familiar with are actually dried roses. These plants are treated to a special dehydration process so that they retain their colors despite their withered and dried out appearance. Red roses if subjected to this procedure for several months will eventually turn black.
You can of course give a former romantic interest a bouquet of dead roses. But understand that dead roses are not for the faint of heart. They will most definitely have an impact on anyone who sees them! Nothing says, “We’re though” quite like dead roses.
However, the most common usage of dead roses is as birthday or gag gifts! Many people give these special dried roses to celebrate the fact of someone NOT ageing gracefully. A present of dead roses on a 40th or 50th birthday party or at a retirement bash will make a long lasting impression and express your sentiments perfectly.
But dead roses can also be used to show sadness and a broken heart, especially during the breakup of someone special. A vase full of dead roses lets everyone know you the true depths of your feelings.
Roses have been used for centuries as symbols of death. Since cut roses have such a brief period of life, these “dead roses” have been used to convey the shortness life and the passing of a loved one. Images of cut roses have been carved into tombstones and gravesite markers to express condolences, display sorrow and offer prayers of hope for the resurrection.
The Meaning of Dead Roses
Standing for all things sad and mournful dead roses have also come to represent broken hearts and broken relationships. Occasionally, spurned and angry lovers will gift former loved ones a bouquet of withered blooms. How this practice started no one is quite sure, but be certain that a posy of dry, dead rose blooms will get your sentiments across.
Dead Roses can mean:
- Anger
- Black Humor (Birthdays, Anniversaries)
- Broken Heartedness
- Gloom
- Despair
- “We’re Done!”
- “it’s over”
Once you understand the meaning of dead roses, you can use there wither blooms to express your some of your darker or most sarcastic feelings.