The Sick Rose Flashcards
1
Q
Context
A
The Sick Rose” was written by the British poet William Blake. First published in Songs of Innocence and Experience in 1794, it is one Blake’s best-known poems, while also remaining one of his most enigmatic. In eight short lines, the speaker addresses the “Rose” of the title, telling it that an “invisible worm” has made it sick. This crafty worm has flown through a stormy night to satisfy its “dark secret love” in the rose’s “bed”—an action that will “destroy” the rose’s life. The poem is filled with symbolism, but there are a wide range of theories about what, exactly, the worm and rose represent. Generally speaking, the worm is a corrupting figure, preying on the innocent life-force of the beautiful rose. Both worm and rose are personified, and the poem is heavy with sexual suggestion—leading many critics to theorize that the poem depicts the oppression of sexuality and desire by the Christian authorities of the day.
1
Q
Death, destruction and innocence
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- The Sick Rose” is one of William Blake’s most hotly contested poems—there are many theories out there as to what the poem means! What is clear, though, is that the poem features two main characters: a rose, and an “invisible worm” that has made the rose sick. If the rose is read as a symbol, as it often is, for the natural beauty and majesty of creation, then the poem becomes an allegory for such beauty’s inevitable destruction—for the fact that nothing can last forever, and that death and decay come for all living things. The rose’s fate may also represent the corruption of innocence by the harsh realities of the world.
- Roses, with their complex network of colorful petals, often represent both love and loveliness in literature, and that seems to be what’s happening in the poem as well. In its mention of the flower’s “crimson joy,” the poem associates the rose with vibrant, natural beauty. But this rose is also “sick,” thanks to the “invisible worm” that’s tracked the rose down.
- Roses, like all plants, do literally face various dangers from worms, bugs, insects, and other pests. The beauty of the rose offers no protection against these kinds of external threats. On one level, then, the worm might represent the idea that death, destruction, and decay come for all living things. The worm—a creature of the dirt, burrowing deep in the dark muck of the earth—may also represent the way that earthly society inevitably corrupts even the purest and loveliest of beings.
- The fact that the poem personifies the worm as a hardy and determined figure—one that flies at night of “howling storm” in order to have its way with the rose—further suggests that the forces of destruction and/or corruption will always get their way in the end, that, inevitably, the rose will lose its innocence and die.
2
Q
Sex and desire
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- “The Sick Rose” is often interpreted as an allegory for the corrupting influence of sexual desire. That said, William Blake was actually an advocate for sexual liberation well ahead of his time. With this in mind, the poem seems to critique the way that sexual unions are so often shrouded in secrecy, darkness, and shame. The poem thus becomes an allegory not for the corrupting influence of sexual desire itself, but for the damage caused by the suppression of that desire.
- A rose is a conventional symbol of love, romance, and femininity (often linked to the vagina itself). In this context, the worm can read as a phallic representation of the male sexual organ, which here seeks to penetrate the rose’s bed (meaning both flower bed and the conventional type of bed). The poem certainly plays with these connotations, with the rose’s “bed” offering up a kind of “crimson joy.”
- But though the worm represents strong desire, it can only act on this desire by remaining hidden. And despite the mention of “joy,” the union between the rose and the worm is neither openly joyful nor celebratory. The worm’s desire is “dark,” “secret,” and can only be fulfilled in the anonymity afforded by travelling during a “howling storm” at night. The worm’s desire is literally and figuratively forced underground, perhaps gesturing towards societal ideas about sex that are based on shame, guilt, and sinfulness.
- The nature of the worm’s so-called love, then, is damaging and destructive. It seems that it’s the “dark[ness]” and secrecy of the worm’s love that “destroys” the rose’s life—rather than the action of loving itself. While love is usually something positive and nourishing, here is a vision of love corrupted into a deadly force. While love is usually life-affirming, here it’s a killer. And though the poem doesn’t delve too deeply into what makes this love so corrupt, it’s the worm’s distinguishing feature of invisibility that makes this union so grotesque. The rose doesn’t even necessarily know of the worm’s existence, adding another unsettling layer of seediness and secrecy.
- In the unhealthy union between worm and rose, then, sex and desire cease to be joyful, (re)productive, or creative. Though sex is the method by which the human race maintains its presence on this planet, here sex—or its suppression—is a destructive, evil force. The worm is invisible, both there and not there. That is, though sexual desire is ever-present, its natural fulfillment depends upon the prevailing attitudes towards sex. Arguably, then, the sickness of the rose stands in for the sickness of repressed sexuality in general. In other words, the poem suggests that society has lost perspective on the naturalness—and innocent joy—of sex.
3
Q
O Rose thou art sick.
A
- “The Sick Rose” opens with apostrophe as the speaker addresses the rose itself. Though this line is simple and spare, it does a lot. The use of “O” makes the poem sound like a kind of lament, as though the speaker is mourning the rose’s imminent death. The long /o/ assonance in the first two words—”O Rose”—heightens this effect. The third vowel sound in the poem, “thou,” has similarly round, open feel. Together these vowels suggest weariness, but also the rose’s beauty, grace, and elegance.
- These /o/ vowels also make the sound of the line’s final two words all the more pronounced. Both “art” and “sick” are very different sounds from “O,” “Rose,” and “thou,” with two different vowel sounds at work alongside harsher consonants. The final hard /k/ sound of “sick” ends the line on a note of unpleasantness and disease.
- The end-stop at the end of the line serves the same purpose, making “sick” visceral and loud. This sets-up the rest of the poem as a kind of explainer that will give the rose—and the reader—more information about why (and how) the rose is sick.
4
Q
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:
A
- The poem sets out to explain what has caused the rose’s sickness and introduces its other main character, the “invisible worm.” This worm “flies,” rather than crawls, under the cover of darkness and during the chaotic atmosphere of a storm. As with the poem itself, this section is enigmatic, offering no straightforward interpretation. The poem feels heavy with symbolism, but offers tantalizingly little to the reader in terms of what that symbolism means.
- First, it’s worth considering how this section departs from a more typical relationship between flower and pest in real life. Certain creepy crawlies may indeed attack the root of a plant and ultimately kill it. But just as often, regular old worms don’t pose a threat to roses—nor to much else! Worms, of course, do live in the ground, and are associated with death and decay. This association stems from the human practice of burying the dead in the ground. Literature is full of references to death as a process which turns humans into food for worms.
- But the worm in this poem is not a typical earthworm. First, it is “invisible” and has the ability to fly. Of course, “invisible” could mean simply “unseen,” and “flies” could mean “moves quickly” as opposed to actual flight. Either way, everything in these three lines suggests secrecy, and maybe even shame. This is emphasized by the fact that even though the worm is invisible it still travels specifically during a stormy night. The rose cannot see nor hear the worm’s invasion—nothing is out in the open. The reader, then, must ask why the worm has to hide his activity.
- On the one hand, the worm doesn’t want the rose to realize that it’s under attack. But it’s also helpful to map this idea of secrecy and shame onto Blake’s wider worldview. Blake was deeply critical of organized Christianity for the way that it suppressed what he saw as humankind’s natural sexuality. Such suppression, he believed, just made desire manifest in unhealthy, poisonous ways.
- Perhaps, then, the rose’s sickness represents society’s own sickness created by its inability to embrace sexuality and desire. To that end, it’s easy to read the worm as a kind of phallus (a representation of the male sex organ). The worm might also represent a kind of demon, specifically an incubus (a male demon who preys upon sleeping women for sexual gratification). The quick assonance in “invisible” represents the worm’s thin, cylindrical body, while the /z/ sound chimes with “Rose” in line 1, linking the two characters together. Also note that the storm is “howling,” a word that might be associated with both pain and pleasure.
5
Q
The journey’s purpose - Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
A
- Here, the poem makes its sexual symbolism more explicit. The word “bed” suggests both a flowerbed and a regular bed—that is, where lovers meet. The rose’s bed is specifically “crimson,” a deep red that connotes sexual appetite and vigor. This “bed / Of crimson joy” also might refer to the vagina itself (indeed, this association is behind the word “deflowering,” which means to take someone’s virginity).
- The worm’s activity suggest a kind of invasion or violation, the worm sneaking up on the rose in order to satisfy his desires. It’s not clear whether “joy” belongs to the rose or the worm in this situation, however—that is, whether the rose’s bed is inherently joyful, or that it becomes joyful for the worm through its act of destruction.
- Notice how the enjambment between lines 5 and 6 (“bed / Of”) mirrors that between lines 3 and 4 (“night / In”). Both suggest a kind of journey or passage, the worm travelling through the night and then burrowing deeper and deeper into the rose’s bed.
- Certainly, the worm is the dominant character here. But it’s worth noting how the poem’s grammar suggests that this is an ongoing situation. The use of “Has” in line 5 sets up the present-tense verb “does” in the last line, implying that the rose is sick and dying—but not dead yet. If the poem is read as a kind of allegory for society’s general sickness—its inability embrace sexuality in an open, healthy, and joyful way—then the way the poem handles its timeline of events shows that this is a perpetual, ongoing problem.
6
Q
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
A
- In lines 7 and 8, the speaker states the consequences of the worm’s invasion. The worm’s “dark secret love” gradually “destroy[s]” the rose’s “life.” Taken literally, the burrowing pest kills the flower—something that indeed happens in nature. But this under-the-surface rot has more symbolic connotations as well.
- Though the poem never explicitly states what the rose stands for, there’s no doubt that it represents something positive—perhaps beauty, nature, love, or life itself (or a combination of all of these things). The worm, meanwhile, represents a mortal threat to the rose, destroying the flower in order to satisfy its own “dark secret love.” The worm might stand in for dark and corrupting forces in the world, which seek to destroy things that are positive and good. Or, again, the poem could be suggesting how a “secret love”—suppressed desire—leads only to devastation.
- Remember, Blake’s poetry divides the world into oppositional forces or, in his own words, “contrary states.” Thus though the poem doesn’t make its symbolism explicit, it’s fair to say that the rose and worm represent conflicting aspects of the world. The worm is clearly associated with “dark[ness]” and secrecy, while the natural beauty and vulnerability of the rose make it a symbol of goodness. In miniature, then, there is a kind of battle between good and evil, honesty and secrecy, going on in the poem that can be mapped onto any number of ideas
7
Q
The Rose
A
- First, it’s worth considering what roses traditionally represent. They are, of course, beautiful flowers, and thus often appear in literature as symbolic of beauty itself. They often represent a specifically feminine kind of beauty as well (think of how the phrase “an English rose” is sometimes used to describe a woman). Considering that this is a Blake poem, it’s also possible to view the rose as a representation of innocence, which, in the real world, becomes corrupted (this is a common theme throughout Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Experience). Altogether, the rose seems to represent unspoiled beauty and loveliness.
- The rose also relates to sexuality. Roses are sometimes associated with the vagina, and this idea seems at play in lines 5 to 6. Here, the speaker states that the worm has found the rose’s “bed / of crimson joy.” The “crimson joy” provided by the rose relates to sexual satisfaction, while the “bed” itself plays on the twin definition of conventional bed and flowerbed. A bed, of course, is a typical location of sexual activity, and its mention thus heightens the sexual symbolism of the rose at the heart of this poem.
8
Q
The Worm
A
- On that note, worms carry a long history of symbolism in poetry, religion, and mythology. They’re usually linked with death and decay (think about the macabre description of a corpse as “worm food”), and that association is certainly in play here. They often connote sneakiness and might be used to describe a conniving person (who “worms” their way into a group, for instance). Broadly speaking, it’s fair to say the worm in the poem is a symbol of dark, destructive forces. Perhaps these forces relate to dishonest, slimy members of society or the basest impulses of society itself.
- The worm also has a “dark secret” desire to consume the rose, suggesting that the worm can be read as a symbol of repressed sexuality. Indeed, it seems that it’s the specifically secretive nature of the worm’s desire—not desire itself—that the poem portrays as damaging and deadly. Perhaps, then, the worm further symbolizes the consequences of unhealthy societal attitudes towards sex, particularly, in this case, those imposed by the institutions of the Christian religion (a common target for Blake’s poetry).
- And of course, if the rose represents a woman, then the worm can be thought of as representing the male sexual organ. The worm is a phallus (a penis-like shape) that seeks to penetrate the rose. Again, it would be wrong to view the poem as a general criticism of sexuality. Instead, the reader is asked to consider what it is about the worm that makes its desire so grotesque and unnatural.
- It’s also worth considering that “worm” hasn’t always meant the typical earthworm (and this worm is certainly not one of those!). Over the centuries the word has denoted serpents, snakes, dragons, and others too. Given that Blake’s poetry is steeped in Christianity, it’s possible that the worm here also relates to the serpent in the biblical Book of Genesis, who tempts Eve to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree—and thus causes the Fall of mankind. That same devilish desire for destruction is on show in this poem here
9
Q
Meter
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“The Sick Rose” has a very loose meter that could be called anapestic dimeter—meaning that there are two anapests, feet with a da-da-DUM rhythm, per line.
Things get even more ambiguous when considering that a foot like “O Rose” could possibly be read as a spondee (stressed-stressed, “O Rose”). For the most part though, every line has just two stressed beats. This lends the meter a feeling of rhythm and consistency, while the varying number of unstressed beats keeps things a bit unsettling.
Line 7 is the only line in the poem that unambiguously has three stressed beats:
And his dark secret love
Here the poem clusters stresses together to suggest the violence of the worm’s desires; as he forces his way into the rose’s bed, his presence on the poetic line becomes harder to escape.
9
Q
Form
A
- “The Sick Rose” is a small, compact poem consisting of two quatrains. The simple form makes the poem feel all the more like an allegory, a short tale with a hidden message.
- The poem can also be divided into two sentences—one short, and one long. Line 1 states the facts: the rose is sick. The rest of the poem (lines 2-8) then seems to wriggle down the page, mimicking the movement of the worm that has infiltrated the rose’s bed.
- The stanza break serves an important function here. It’s not until line 5 that the long sentence comes to its main verb phrase, “has found.” This creates a kind of lasting tension and final release that mirrors the worm’s quest to satisfy his “dark secret love.”
10
Q
Rhyme Scheme
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The Sick Rose” has a regular rhyme scheme, with the second and fourth lines of both stanzas rhyming together. The poem, then, follows a pattern of:
ABCB DEFE
This pattern is fairly typical of Blake’s poetry, and in particular of the poems in Songs of Innocence and Experience, the collection from which this poem is taken. It’s also the rhyme scheme of a ballad stanza.
The rhyme words effectively tell the poem in miniature: worm / storm / joy / destroy. The steadiness of the rhyme scheme, combined with the poem’s short lines, quatrain stanzas, and highly symbolic imagery, makes the poem feel like an allegory, a simple story with a hidden meaning.
11
Q
Speaker
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- The speaker in “The Sick Rose” never refers to themselves directly. This is in keeping with the poem being a sort of allegory, less about any specific perspective and more about the message at hand.
- This type of vantage point is also typical for the Songs of Innocence and Experience, from which this poem is taken. Here, the speaker addresses the rose through apostrophe (the rose is personified, but it doesn’t answer the speaker). The speaker has a kind of omniscient knowledge, able to perceive things that the rose can’t. Ultimately, the speaker is a kind of messenger arriving too late. Though the speaker delivers a warning to the rose about its fate, nothing can be done about it. The speaker also delivers this message to the reader, who is implicitly asked to consider what the rose’s sickness represents.
12
Q
Setting
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The poem is written in the present tense—the rose is sick, but isn’t dead yet. The nighttime setting and the noise of the storm heighten the sense that this is an illicit union, one that the rose doesn’t want and probably isn’t aware of yet. This fits in with the idea that the poem, at least in part, is about the shame and secrecy that surround sex and desire. Desire is fulfilled in the poem, but in a way that is hidden and grotesque. The sense of both time and place in the poem contribute to this unease.
13
Q
Literary context
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- “The Sick Rose” first appeared in Blake’s 1794 publication Songs of Innocence and Experience. The first sequence of poems from this book had appeared a few years earlier as Songs of Innocence. “The Sick Rose” is taken from the later Experience sequence of poems, and thus is part of an overall effort to show what happens to innocence, happiness, joy, love—all the things that are positive and good about life—when they encounter the real world.
- Other poems in Experience similarly depict nature in a state of corruption, usually at the hands of humankind. Poems worth comparing to this one include “A Poison Tree,” “Ah! Sunflower,” and “The Garden of Love.” In poems like “The Blossom,” meanwhile, nature exerts a loving influence on the world, expressing God’s love and care for his creation.
- Worms also appear elsewhere in Blake’s poetry, though it’s important to remember that the word could also relate to other mythical creatures—like serpents and dragons. Indeed, this “invisible” worm does not seem like a typical earthworm at all. In The Four Zoas, Blake states plainly that “man is a worm.” With that in mind, it’s tempting to view the corrupting desire of the worm in the poem with the terrible reality that man has constructed within God’s creation—which, in Blake’s view, has totally lost touch with how humankind is meant to live. It’s also possible to view the worm as an echo of the serpent in the Bible who tempts Eve to eat the fruit of the forbidden tree.
14
Q
Historical context
A
- In terms of what’s actually on the page, “The Sick Rose” is devoid of historical context. As with many of Blake’s poems, this one seems to exist both in ancient history, the present, and the future—indeed, it’s this quality that often gives Blake’s poetry a prophetic quality. That’s not to say, of course, that Blake wasn’t intensely aware—and critical—of his own historical situation. He was a fierce critic of the Industrial Revolution, the beginning of which saw the growth of factories in England and a rapid increase in machine-based labor. Blake felt that humankind was losing touch with what made it human: joy, communion with nature, desire, and love. It’s tempting, then, to read some of that perceived societal sickness in the ill health of the rose.
- The poem is often related more specifically to attitudes towards sex during the 18th century. Blake was highly critical of the dominant church institution—the Church of England—for the way in which it portrayed sex as something to be ashamed of, and desire as something that ought to be repressed. The poem has clear sexual undertones, but the union between rose and worm is not a healthy one. The worm desires the rose, but can only fulfil this desire through secrecy.
- Blake believed in a spirit world, including invisible “larvae” spirits which are similar to demons, and are capable of travel from one person’s mind to another (these spirits are discussed in the works of the influential fourth-century theologian, Saint Augustine). Crucially, Blake also believed that sexuality should be embraced, not suppressed. In Blake’s view, the denial of sexual desire could have damaging and destructive consequences for both the individual and society more generally.
