Tweetspeak Poetry

  • Home
  • FREE prompts
  • Earth Song
  • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • Teaching Tools
  • Books, Etc.
  • Patron Love

By Any Other Name

By Paul Willis 12 Comments

I have never been one to notice roses. I know the names of wildflowers by the score, particularly the alpine sort, and love to sit in mountain meadows counting petals and contemplating the sweet shine and attitude of shooting stars and Indian paintbrush. But roses—roses are the poodles of the vegetable kingdom—domesticated, fretted over, too precious for their own good.

They have their uses, of course. When my mother turned 75, my brothers and I rustled up that many red roses and surprised her with them—a whole cartload. And my wife, Sharon, seems to appreciate a dozen or so on special occasions as proof of my unwilted love. Then there was the time in college that a beautiful and breathy young woman, two years my senior, received a dozen anonymously. “Who could have sent these?” she asked in my presence. I, who had not sent them, stammered and blushed. Thus began a rather interesting few weeks, until I was disastrously found out.

My interest in roses took a turn three years ago, however, when Sharon and I lost our home to a wildfire on the outskirts of Santa Barbara and temporarily rented a place in town near the old mission. We jogged to the mission with our dog almost every day, which also meant jogging past our spreading municipal rose garden.

There is something about loss that dulls the senses; as I recall, our stomachs were knotted with the trauma of the fire, and life passed as a distant dream. But there is also something about loss that allows one to notice things. What I noticed about these roses is that they had names. Lots of names, announced for us on knee-high placards that lined the beds.

Rainbow Knockout, First Light, Wind Chimes, Buff Beauty, Hot Cocoa, Bishop Darlington, Red Coat, Child’s Play, Innocence. Nice, I thought. Some, of course, were a little much: Sunshine Daydream, Perfect Moment, Honey Perfume, Tahitian Sunset, Mellow Yellow, Over the Moon.

Overlooking these, however, I began to take a certain delight in reading off the names aloud and repeating them as I bounced across the grass after our golden retriever. There was a literary flavor to some: Clytemnestra, Penelope, William Shakespeare, Wise Portia, Fair Bianca, The Dark Lady.

There was also, of course, a whole French Quarter: Duchesse de Brabant, Etoile de Lyon, Marie Van Hautte, Monsieur Tillier, La Sylphide, and—my favorite—Beaute Inconstante. Since I had never bothered to learn French, I ran around the garden mispronouncing these in Pig-Latin as I pleased: BE-U-TAY IN-CON-STAN-TAY, music to my ears alone.

Then there were the racier varieties—Playboy, Playgirl, X-Rated, Sheer Bliss, Sweet Surrender—reminding me that of all flowers, roses may be the most suggestively erotic. Before there was first base, second base, third base, and home, there was the French medieval Romance of the Rose, the whole point of which was to penetrate the rose in the center of the walled garden.

It is no surprise, then, that many of the roses were simply named after women—or vice-versa: Rosaleen, Kathleen, Felicia, Brandy, Kristin, Cynthia—these the approachable girls next door when compared to the distant Madame Lombard or Lady Ann Kidwell.

A surprising number of roses were named after real or imagined goddesses of recent times: Betty Boop, Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Barbra Streisand, Sweet Diana, Maria Shriver, Julia Child. (Julia Child?)

And some were even named after men—which, I thought, represented an almost complete failure of the imagination: William R. Smith, David Austin, Mr. Lincoln, Henry Fonda, Dick Clark. Please, I thought. Dick Clark may be many things. But he is not a rose. He has only faded like one.

Nevertheless, I’m sure some resourceful person could find a poem in the Dick Clark rose. Maybe Clark could meet Betty Boop at the center of a walled garden. It might even be amusing to write it in broken French.

Photo by AudreyJM Creative Commons, via Flickr. Post by Paul Willis, author of Rosing from the Dead.
___________

Buy a year of Every Day Poems, just $5.99— Read a poem a day, become a better poet. In May we’re exploring the theme Roses.

Every Day Poems Driftwood

  • Author
  • Recent Posts
Paul Willis
Latest posts by Paul Willis (see all)
  • By Any Other Name - May 21, 2012

Filed Under: Blog, poetry, poetry teaching resources, writer's group resources, writing prompts

Try Every Day Poems...

Comments

  1. L. L. Barkat says

    May 21, 2012 at 8:42 am

    Paul, I totally loved all these names!

    (And I’m secretly waiting for a one Maureen Doallas to make something of them.)

    I find it interesting that you were drawn to rose names after the fire. Maybe that’s not exactly how it went (you thought you were just walking through a garden), but it seemed to me almost like a process of reconstruction of the world, this name-noticing.

    Reply
  2. SimplyDarlene says

    May 21, 2012 at 9:59 am

    Take a look at the Dick Clark rose. It is simply amazing.

    http://www.weeksroses.com/rose_dick_clark.htm

    Sir, thank you for sharing this story. You didn’t mention the fragrances…

    (As a side note, my husband & son bought me birthday roses in Jan. and they smelled not. Two weeks later I read an ad for the store and it said $2 more for roses that smell. How weird is that?)

    Blessings.

    Reply
  3. Kimberlee Conway Ireton says

    May 21, 2012 at 10:26 am

    Paul, what a wonderful way to start my week, with all those tantalizing names. I hope Maureen shows up to turn them into a poem. In the meantime, I’m feeling inspired to go play with them myself. 🙂

    Reply
  4. Maureen Doallas says

    May 21, 2012 at 11:18 am

    Wonderful post, Paul. I’m feeling the pressure!

    Reply
  5. Glynn says

    May 21, 2012 at 2:27 pm

    A Tale of Two Roses: Boop-a-doopin on the bandstand

    Narrator:
    I’m mending my stone wall
    or maybe stonewalling my mending
    because fences make good neighbors
    or maybe neighbors make good fences
    I’m tending my stone wall,
    my rose wall
    I’m singing my rose wall
    my stone wall
    My two-rose stone wall

    Dick Clark:
    Were goin hoppin
    Were goin happin
    Where things are poppin
    The philadelphia way
    Were gonna drop in
    On all the music they play
    On the bandstand (repeat: bandstand)

    Betty Boop:
    I’m a little queen
    of the animated screen
    wait till you
    get a view
    of sweet Betty

    There’s the moon, ‘way up high,
    Here are you and here am I,
    Oh, do, do, do, something!
    Boop-oop-a-doop!

    Dick Clark:
    Were goin swingin
    Were gonna swing in the crowd
    And well be clingin
    And floatin high as a cloud
    The phones are ringin
    My mom and dad are so proud
    Im on bandstand (repeat: bandstand)

    Betty Boop:
    It’s been told and explained,
    That nothing tried is nothing gained!
    Oh, oh, come on, please, do something!
    Boop-oop-a-doop!

    Dick Clark:
    The singers croonin
    He aint the greatest but gee
    My babys swoonin
    In front of all of tv
    So if you tune in
    Youll see my baby and me
    On the bandstand (repeat:bandstand)

    Betty Boop:
    It’s been told and explained,
    That nothing tried is nothing gained!
    Oh, oh, come on, please, do something!
    Boop-oop-a-doop!

    Narrator:
    Looks like my roses
    my two stone-wall roses
    never the twain shall meet
    on the bandstand (repeat: bandstand)
    boop-oop-a-doop

    Reply
  6. Glynn says

    May 21, 2012 at 2:30 pm

    By the way, the above poem uses the lyrics from both the American Bandstand theme and the Betty Boop song. Virtually verbatim.

    Reply
  7. Maureen Doallas says

    May 21, 2012 at 2:32 pm

    Beautiful Varieties and Lots of Names

    Betty Boop was Over the Moon,
    found out Dick Clark

    bounced a little too
    suggestively when jogging

    near the most erotic women
    Julia Child sent to score

    in Beaute Inconstante,
    some place temporarily rented

    in the nice French Quarter.
    No surprise: a Perfect Moment

    it was not! Sweet Marilyn Monroe
    took a turn, said he faded

    disastrously at First Light, simply lost
    interest in counting a cartload

    of rose petals in the center
    of their beds. Breathy, racier

    Elizabeth Taylor, contemplating
    Child’s Play with poodles, fretted almost

    every day over the dozen or so
    occasions Dick went home

    a complete failure. Honey Perfume,
    X-Rated in Playboy, stammered

    her delight in their Sheer Bliss
    that time in college but blushed,

    recalling a distant dream, too —
    precious for their own good —

    of love in alpine mountain meadows.
    Audrey Hepburn, reminding me

    that innocence dulls medieval senses,
    never bothered. The Indian

    Hot Cocoa, simply music to the ears
    when she ran after men, was certain

    of first base, second, base, and third;
    however, mispronouncing Pig-Latin

    aloud knotted our stomachs. Trauma
    was not the mission. Life passed

    then, no romance in the vegetable garden,
    reading off the names. . . approachable

    girls, imagined goddesses next door,
    beautiful varieties, lots of names.

    Reply
  8. Maureen Doallas says

    May 21, 2012 at 2:38 pm

    Editorial correction: That one long dash belongs before the word ‘too’:

    recalling a distant dream — too
    precious for their own good —

    Reply
  9. L. L. Barkat says

    May 21, 2012 at 10:19 pm

    !!!

    I love these poems, Glynn, Maureen. My, my 🙂

    Reply
  10. Paul Willis says

    May 22, 2012 at 2:08 pm

    Thank you, all, for your rosy comments and adventurous poems!

    Paul Willis

    Reply
  11. Marcy Terwilliger says

    May 8, 2013 at 1:45 pm

    I’m not the wonderful famous writer as so many are that leave words in perfect order, so I would have to call myself a story teller instead, someone who learns knew words as I go along. I do know roses though, I love the way you entertained us with their names. Looking for Mr. Lincoln.

    I planted Mr. Lincoln, a climber of red, he only blooms once a year but the number of blooms you can’t count in your head. His stage, a tall white arch that makes his entrance even more attractive so he’s a head turner just like the President. Two years ago we decided to move and all my roses I just threw, deep into woods and said my final goodbye. Spring came only to find us still in the same spot as I went into the woods there I saw, Mr. Lincoln along with tons of his friends and I bowed down to my knees with joy and glee. Somehow they didn’t die, they simply needed some light to which I carried them home by day and by night. So Mr. Lincoln is happy as can be, he’s on his white arch looking so lovely. Covered again in hundreds of blooms, I guess it will take a gun to kill that rose, it’s never going to die. Just bloom and bloom right before my very eyes.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Our Favorites from the 2012 Poetry Themes - Tweetspeak Poetry says:
    December 31, 2012 at 9:46 am

    […] May, Paul Willis took note of the seemingly limitless names of roses in By Any Other Name. There was also, of course, a whole French Quarter: Duchesse de Brabant, Etoile de Lyon, Marie Van […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Take How to Read a Poem

Get the Introduction, the Billy Collins poem, and Chapter 1

get the sample now

Welcome to Tweetspeak

New to Tweetspeak Poetry? Start here, in The Mischief Café. You're a regular? Check out our May Menu

Patron Love

❤️

Welcome a little patron love, when you help keep the world poetic.

The Graphic Novel

"Stunning, heartbreaking, and relevant illustrations"

Callie Feyen, teacher

read a summary of The Yellow Wallpaper

meet The Yellow Wallpaper characters

How to Write Poetry

Your Comments

  • Donna Hilbert on Poets and Poems: L.L. Barkat and “Beyond the Glass”
  • L.L. Barkat on Poets and Poems: L.L. Barkat and “Beyond the Glass”
  • Poets and Poems: L.L. Barkat and “Beyond the Glass” - Tweetspeak Poetry on Love, Etc.: Poems of Love, Laughter, Longing & Loss
  • Glynn on World War II Had Its Poets, Too

Featured In

We're happy to have been featured in...

The Huffington Post

The Paris Review

The New York Observer

Tumblr Book News

Stay in Touch With Us

Categories

Learn to Write Form Poems

How to Write an Acrostic

How to Write a Ballad

How to Write a Catalog Poem

How to Write a Ghazal

How to Write a Haiku

How to Write an Ode

How to Write a Pantoum

How to Write a Rondeau

How to Write a Sestina

How to Write a Sonnet

How to Write a Villanelle

5 FREE POETRY PROMPTS

Get 5 FREE inbox poetry prompts from the popular book How to Write a Poem

Shakespeare Resources

Poetry Classroom: Sonnet 18

Common Core Picture Poems: Sonnet 73

Sonnet 104 Annotated

Sonnet 116 Annotated

Character Analysis: Romeo and Juliet

Character Analysis: Was Hamlet Sane or Insane?

Why Does Hamlet Wait to Kill the King?

10 Fun Shakespeare Resources

About Shakespeare: Poet and Playwright

Top 10 Shakespeare Sonnets

See all 154 Shakespeare sonnets in our Shakespeare Library!

Explore Work From Black Poets

About Us

  • • A Blessing for Writers
  • • Our Story
  • • Meet Our Team
  • • Literary Citizenship
  • • Poet Laura
  • • Poetry for Life: The 5 Vital Approaches
  • • T. S. Poetry Press – All Books
  • • Contact Us

Write With Us

  • • 5 FREE Poetry Prompts-Inbox Delivery
  • • 30 Days to Richer Writing Workshop
  • • Poetry Prompts
  • • Submissions
  • • The Write to Poetry

Read With Us

  • • All Our Books
  • • Book Club
  • • Every Day Poems—Subscribe! ✨
  • • Literacy Extras
  • • Poems to Listen By: Audio Series
  • • Poet-a-Day
  • • Poets and Poems
  • • 50 States Projects
  • • Charlotte Perkins Gilman Poems Library
  • • Edgar Allan Poe Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Blake Poems Arts & Experience Library
  • • William Shakespeare Sonnet Library

Celebrate With Us

  • • Poem on Your Pillow Day
  • • Poetic Earth Month
  • • Poet in a Cupcake Day
  • • Poetry at Work Day
  • • Random Acts of Poetry Day
  • • Take Your Poet to School Week
  • • Take Your Poet to Work Day

Gift Ideas

  • • Every Day Poems
  • • Our Shop
  • • Everybody Loves a Book!

Connect

  • • Donate
  • • Blog Buttons
  • • By Heart
  • • Shop for Tweetspeak Fun Stuff

Copyright © 2025 Tweetspeak Poetry · FAQ, Disclosure & Privacy Policy