Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose

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Gertrude Stein, 1935

The sentence "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." was written by Gertrude Stein as part of the 1913 poem Sacred Emily, which appeared in the 1922 book Geography and Plays. In that poem, the first "Rose" is the name of a woman. Stein later used variations on the phrase in other writings, and "A rose is a rose is a rose" is probably her most famous quote, often interpreted as "things are what they are". In Stein's view, the sentence expresses the fact that simply using the name of a thing already invokes the imagery and emotions associated with it. As the quote diffused through her own writing, and the culture at large, Stein once remarked "Now listen! I’m no fool. I know that in daily life we don’t go around saying 'is a … is a … is a …' Yes, I’m no fool; but I think that in that line the rose is red for the first time in English poetry for a hundred years." (Four in America) ^[1]

Gertrude Stein's repetitive language can be said to refer to the changing quality of language in time and history. She herself said to an audience at Oxford University that the statement referred to the fact that when the Romantics used the word "rose" it had a direct relationship to an actual rose. For later periods in literature this would no longer be true. The eras following romanticism, notably the modern era, use the word rose to refer to the actual rose, yet they also imply, through the use of the word, the archetypical elements of the romantic era. It also follows the rhetoric law of thricefold repetition to emphasize a point, as can be seen in speeches dating back to the sophists.

[edit] Versions by Gertrude Stein

"Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." (Sacred Emily, Geography and Plays)
"Do we suppose that all she knows is that a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." (Operas and Plays)
"... she would carve on the tree Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose is a Rose until it went all the way around." (The World is Round)
"A rose tree may be a rose tree may be a rosy rose tree if watered." (Alphabets and Birthdays)
"Indeed a rose is a rose makes a pretty plate...." (Stanzas in Meditation)
"When I said.

A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.

And then later made that into a ring I made poetry and what did I do I caressed completely caressed and addressed a noun." (Lectures in America)

"Civilization begins with a rose. A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. It continues with blooming and it fastens clearly upon excellent examples." (As Fine as Melanctha)
"Lifting belly can please me because it is an occupation I enjoy.

Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.

In print on top." (Bee Time Vine)

[edit] Variations by others

The phrase was heavily promoted by Stein's life partner Alice B. Toklas; for example she sold plates with the sentence going all the way around.
James Tenney made a skillful if short setting of "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" as a canon dedicated to Philip Corner, beginning with an "a" on an upbeat pickup and continuing so that each repetition shuffles the words, eg. "a/rose is a rose/is a rose is/a rose is a/rose."
The sentence was parodied by Ernest Hemingway after a brief time in Paris seeking editorial suggestions for his writing: "a stone is a stein is a rock is a boulder is a pebble." This also appears in his novel For Whom The Bell Tolls, where there is yet another parody: "an onion is an onion is an onion". After a, perhaps bitter, falling out, the phrase becomes, "a bitch is a bitch is a bitch is a bitch."
Bret Easton Ellis sends up the phrase in his novel American Psycho, as narrator Patrick Bateman utters, "a Rolls is a Rolls is a Rolls" during one of his frequent materialist stream-of-consciousness tirades.
Margaret Thatcher said in 1981 "A crime is a crime is a crime", referring to the actions of members of the IRA. The phrase has been used by other speakers as well, with the intended meaning of "no matter what you call it, criminal violence is criminal, and illegal."
Idlewild, a Scottish rock band, wrote a song called Roseability, which appeared on their album '100 Broken Windows'. The song mentions Gertrude Stein at the end of the chorus - "and Gertrude Stein said that's enough".
The phrase is also quoted by David Lodge in his novel, Thinks ..., in the context of the debate between the fictional characters of Arthur Messenger (a cognitive scientist) and Helen Reed (a novelist).
In the liner notes to his album 69 Love Songs, Stephin Merritt of the band The Magnetic Fields alludes to this phrase as being inspiration to the songs "The Things We Did and Didn't Do" and "The Flowers She Sent and the Flowers She Said She Sent."
Jeanette Winterson wrote in her novel Written on the Body: "Sometimes a breast is a breast is a breast."
"Una rosa es una rosa es una rosa", the Spanish translation of Stein's verse, is the chorus of a famous song by Spanish pop music group Mecano in 1988 (on the album Descanso Dominical). The song is a pop-flamenco song telling the story of a man in love with a woman who hurts and soothes him by turns.
Also "La rosa es una rosa es una rosa" is used in Mexican Fernando del Paso's Sonetos con lugares comunes.
"A Rose is Still a Rose", an album and a song by Aretha Franklin.
The song by Poe called "A rose is a rose" states "a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose said my good friend Gertrude Stein."
The computer game Carmen Sandiego featured a villain humorously named Rosa Zarrosas-Arroz.
Jeff Smith in the issue 13 of the Bone (comics) series, Fone Bone's love poems masterpeace begins with "a rose is a rose is a rose"
William Burroughs wrote an interesting lingustic variant: "the word for word is word", and also used the phrase "a rat is a rat is a rat is a rat" in his novel 'Naked Lunch'.

The phrase appears in a number ("Moses Supposes") that Don Lockwood and Cosmo Brown (Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor) perform while making fun of their dialogue coach in "Singin' in the Rain": "...A Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose is/A rose is for Moses as potent as toeses/Couldn't be a lily or a daphi daphi dilli/It's gotta be a rose cuz it rhymes with mose!"