The narrator—who is presented as the author, Guillaume de Lorris—expounds on the potential worth of dreams, insisting that some dreams reveal events that will eventually happen. He says that when he was 20, he had a dream that came true. He has decided to retell that dream as a poem, as demanded by the god Love. This poem, The Romance of the Rose, contains “the whole art of love” (3).

The narrator describes the beauty of spring in the month of May, describing the appearance of the trees, flowers, and singing birds. He goes for a walk by a beautiful stream and washes his face. After walking a bit further, he stumbles upon a gigantic garden surrounded by decorated walls.

The narrator describes the images on the wall, which are women representing different concepts through allegory. He first describes Hate and Cruelty and Baseness, who are both evil looking. Covetousness has grabbing hands to steal possessions, and Avarice wears dirty clothes because she refuses to buy new ones. Envy is beside them, scowling at everyone good or successful, and Sorrow is unable to let go of her grief and stop weeping.