Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 9-10
Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
- Uh-oh. It seems like the rose is suddenly not doing it for our speaker. She seems frustrated and asks why nobody has ever sent her a perfect limousine. Like this bad boy.
- Does she ask this question because she's materialistic? Is she tired of that 1920s clunker that always breaks down?
- There is some materialism going on here, to be sure. But it also seems like the limousine is just a placeholder for something else.
- The speaker seems tired of love's clichéd gifts, and wants something new. She's essentially saying, "People in love always send flowers. Why can't they send something else, like a perfect limo?"
- Note to whom she's asking the question here. The phrase "do you suppose?" is directed right to us, the reader. As a result, a conversational tone emerges in the poem. We feel like the speaker is talking to us face to face.
Lines 11-12
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose.
- The speaker continues to seem pretty upset.
- That "Ah no" strikes a note of serious disappointment. It's almost like "Ah no I've lost my keys!" or something like that.
- Note again the conversational tone. "Ah no" is something you'd say directly to someone, rather than write in a formal poem.
- She bemoans the fact that it's always "just [her] luck" to get one perfect rose.
- She wants something new that will surprise her. And can you blame her? There's nothing exciting about getting the same perfect rose every time you're in love, is there?
- Note that this stanza has the same rhythm and rhyme scheme of the previous two. Check out "Form and Meter" for more on that. It also has the same refrain.
- Well, this certainly isn't your typical flowery love poem now is it? Doesn't seem to be.