Showing results for "The Nightingale and the Rose" in Genre Fiction

The Nightingale & The Rose is one of Oscar Wilde’s most poignant short stories. A nightingale overhears a student lamenting that he hasn’t a red rose to give to his true love, so she sets out to find a rose, but must sacrifice a great deal to get it. The Nightingale & The Rose was first published in The Happy Prince and Other Tales in 1888.

A nightingale finds a young, romantic student in tears because he cannot find a red rose for his beautiful ball partner. There are no red roses in the garden. The nightingale visits all the rose trees in the area, and one of the roses tells her there is a way to produce a red rose, but only if the nightingale is prepared to sing the sweetest song for the rose all night with her heart pressing into a thorn, sacrificing her life.