Idiom
Bed of roses
Meaning
A pleasant or an easy situation
Origin
This idiom has popularly evolved from literature. It first appears in the 13th century in a medieval French poem ‘La Roman de la Rose’, where it speaks of a beautiful bed of roses near a fountain of love. In later Literature in English, in Christopher Marlowe’s poem, ‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love’ (1599), it is written:
And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle
While Marlowe was talking about real flowers, the phrase today means any easy or pleasant situation.
This idiom has popularly evolved from literature. It first appears in the 13th century in a medieval French poem ‘La Roman de la Rose’, where it speaks of a beautiful bed of roses near a fountain of love. In later Literature in English, in Christopher Marlowe’s poem, ‘The Passionate Shepherd to his Love’ (1599), it is written:And I will make thee beds of roses
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers, and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle
While Marlowe was talking about real flowers, the phrase today means any easy or pleasant situation.
Examples
Life has its ups and downs, it isn’t a bed of roses.
Learning a new language can be hard. It’s no bed of roses.
Many believe that the royal family’s life is a bed of roses, but in the UK being a royal is a full-time job.
