A rose is the sign of love par excellence and at the same time the simplest. Billions are sold on Valentine's Day, and countless numbers are sold to embody a lover's feelings throughout the year. The delicate petals, the harsh and unforgiving thorns, the vivid and deep colors, all the things associated with a rose make it the best way to sum up one person's love for another. The rose has often been associated with a sign of romance. The thought of romanticism is not as highly valued in today's time as compared to, say, fifty years ago. With this in mind, we can examine how love has changed in symbolism over the years using poetry and literature. “One Perfect Rose” by Dorothy Parker and “Cinderella's Diary” by Ron Koertge both speak to the beauty and gratitude of being in love, Parker speaks more to the materialistic view of love that has manifested itself in the last century, especially in American culture while Koertge provides a more humble and serious point of view. The first analytical perspective that can be examined from an academic perspective is the use of tone. These two poems share, at least in part, the same tone. In “One Perfect Rose” the tone is sincere and honest, with undertones of love and gratitude, but it quickly turns into sarcastic and ungrateful behavior. The speaker becoming sarcastic shows that the recipient of the rose sees it as not enough. The speaker quotes, “Why has no one ever sent me a perfect limousine, do you think?”(470) What was given was not enough to symbolize or sum up the love the recipient wishes to receive. The tone of "Cinderella's Diary" always remains sarcastic. There really isn't a single example in history where sarcasm isn't exemplified. The speaker who uses sarcasm must show... the center of the card... of the fairytale love story. Tone, symbolism, and imagery are all great ways to view and examine literary works on different levels. Using the right lens to study a work can give it a completely different meaning and can lend itself to instilling a different lesson than the one originally intended. In one play, a rose is seen as a discontent and as a tool to show the speaker's true feelings about what love means to her. In another, the mere sight of some commoners forces the speaker to desire a life free from the constraints of a forced marriage, making her long for a life of freedom and normality. Both works use multiple literary techniques to lend themselves to too many different elucidations, which makes them such important literary gems. Works Cited McMahan, Elizabeth. Literature and the writing process. 9th ed. Boston: Longman, 2011. Print.