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William Blake
‘The Sick Rose’ by William Blake describes the loss of a woman’s virginity
through the metaphor of a rose and invisible worm.
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William Blake
Nationality: English
William Blake was one of the greatest artistic and literary geniuses of the 18th
and 19th centuries.
Notable works include 'The Tyger,' 'The Schoolboy,' 'The Lamb,' 'A Poison Tree,' and
'London.'
‘The Sick Rose’ by William Blake is a two stanza poem that is separated into
two sets of four lines, or quatrains. These quatrains follow a consistent
rhyme scheme that conforms to the pattern of ABCB DEFE. This very even
pattern contributes to the overall tone of the text. It helps foster a feeling of
dread, as if something is going terribly wrong.
2 Meter
Summary
‘The Sick Rose’ by William Blake describes the loss of a woman’s
virginity through the metaphor of a rose and an invisible worm.
The poem begins with the speaker telling the rose that she is sick. This
sickness is caused by the “invisible worm.” The phallic-shaped worm comes
to the rose at night in the middle of “the howling storm.” There is a real
sense of danger and dread in these lines that only builds as the poem
progresses and Blake makes use of enjambment. In the second stanza of
‘The Sick Rose,’ the worm finds the rose’s bed. The rose is afflicted with the
worm’s “dark secret love” and has its life destroyed. The worm, which clearly
represents a phallus, kills the rose—the woman’s, virginity.
There is one main reason for the “sickness,” the “invisible worm.” It is not
something that is easily imagined, considering that it “flies in the night.” But,
the general shape and the fact that it is, by Blake’s estimation, hurting the
rose, is what’s important. The phallic-shaped worm comes to the rose at
night in the middle of “the howling storm.” There is a sense of danger and
dread in these lines that adds to one’s knowledge that the worm is not going
to do anything good to the rose.
The howling storm is an interesting image at this point in the piece. By
adding this tidbit about the setting, it is clear Blake wants the reader to know
that the worm is able to make it through dangerous conditions. It can find
the rose whenever it wants to. Perhaps this has something to do with its
invisibility. A feature that is also be linked to its ability to get close to the
worm. It might not seem like such danger at first.
Stanza Two
Of crimson joy:
In the second stanza of ‘The Sick Rose,’ the speaker goes detail by detail,
increasing the tension. First, he states that the worm found the rose’s bed.
This refers to the natural dirt flower bed, but more importantly to an actual
bed in which a woman, represented by the rose, is sleeping.
The bed is described as being “of crimson joy.” The redness of the rose and
the bed both speak to the passion and at the same time, anger and even
blood. All three of these connect to the larger metaphor, the loss of a
woman’s virginity.
The rose is afflicted with the worm’s “dark secret love” and has its life
destroyed. Again, these lines could refer to the actual death of a real rose
that is eaten by a worm. But, the extended metaphor is more important. The
worm, which clearly represents a phallus, destroys the rose—the woman’s
virginity. As was the case in Blake’s day, and in many places is still of
importance today, the loss of virginity doomed a woman’s prospects for the
rest of her life. This is the death and sickness the speaker is referring to.
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