Sick Rose by William Blake

¶ … Sick Rose by William Blake [...] possible meanings and relationships of the words, images, and other units that make up a poem. "The Sick Rose" embodies many different themes and elements in eight short lines. Blake's poem illustrates that a work need not contain vast verses and lines to convey strong and eloquent meaning. A short, dramatic poem like this can still touch the reader's emotions graphically and quite effectively.

The Sick Rose" is a beautiful poem about a sad and gloomy subject - death. It combines beauty and dark images into one compelling short piece. Blake weaves several forceful elements together in these short lines to create imagery and ideas that are far beyond the few words he uses. This poem is really an illustration of just how much meaning words can convey, and how readers can actually read much more into a poem than just what is printed on the page.

First, Blake addresses the rose as if it were a living person with feelings, rather than simply a flower, he gives it human qualities, or anthromorphises the flower to make it more real. He writes, "O Rose thou art sick" (Blake). He may have actually written the poem for a sick friend or loved one, because it certainly illustrates grief at death. Then again, the poem could have been written over the loss, or "death" of love, for the foreboding tone and reference to the "dark secret love" (Blake) of the worm could mean that the rose has found another love, and the speaker is grieving over the loss of love, rather than the loss of life. It clearly portrays the pain of dying on the person, but also on the loved ones who surround the "rose." It is important to note that the author uses this rose, which is a universal symbol of love, both as a flower, and a symbolic sign of love and relationships.

Stylistically, Blake has masterfully combined two quatrains that rhyme with the ABCB style. These short, two-beat lines create a menacing rhythm that highly contributes to the poem's sense of sinister dread, while balancing the persistent frankness the speaker uses while warning the rose it is dying. Without this particular style of poetry, the poem would not have the impact it has. Blake clearly understood every aspect of poetry, and knew exactly the reaction he was attempting to elicit from his readers. Using the correct style, combine with other poetic elements created just the right poem with just the right words and style.

The style helps set the tone of the poem, and creates part of the ultimate plot, too. These few lines indicate the rose is dying, and the rose is at least partially responsible for its' own death, as it has allowed a "worm" into the flower bed, or the symbolic lovers' bed. The worm could symbolize a ghastly disease, but probably represents another man come between the two lovers. The plot is actually quite simple if the poem is dissected quickly. The rose sees nothing wrong in the world, but has allowed a worm to destroy its beauty, and those surrounding it can see the rose is indeed dying. Someone must convey the bad news to the blissfully unaware flower, and that duty falls to the speaker. In another context, the woman is blissfully unaware that her lover has been found out, and finally, the husband or "wronged" man must tell her he knows, and their love is over. The plot is actually quite simple, but Blake's eloquent use of words makes the actual telling much more complex and interesting.

The rose, unaware its' love is perverted; takes joy in the sensual pleasures of love, which Blake seems to be saying is unnatural and unhealthy. He writes, "thy bed of crimson joy: / and his dark secret love / Does thy life destroy" (Blake). The rose lives in a blissful bed of joy, unaware that sensual love is still a societal evil. Blake indicates that the rose should feel guilty for this "perversion" of love, and does not, which makes the rose even guiltier in his eyes. What began as a simple poem about a dying rose has taken on much deeper implications about society's view of love and pleasure. Roses give pleasure to the eyes by their beauty and to the nose by their scent, but it is not acceptable for the rose to take pleasure, too. Thus, Blake has revealed the double standard that has plagued men and women for all time. Men ("worms") can take pleasure, but women cannot. Thus, the rose also represents all women who secretly, or not so secretly, take sensual pleasure from their relationships. This "dark secret love" is destroying the rose's relationships, but it is also destroying the rose itself, until it dies, leaving its flowerbed fully infected by the "invisible worm" (Blake). It is interesting that Blake uses the flower to represent the woman, and the worm the man, not only for the symbolism, but also for the underlying visual references. The man is ugly and evil, but perseveres, while the rose is beautiful but fragile and cannot survive. It is this image of fragile womanhood that helps contribute to the feeling that women are not to receive pleasure from their relationships, and helps add to the double standard so obvious in this poem.