the sick rose (73)

Question 1

poetic intention

Answer 1

criticism of hierachy

Question 2

“rose”

Answer 2

marriage; love, unity and duty; beauty of marriage now corrupted due to church exploitation and prostitution

english (society); symbol of the corruption reflected through thorns despite beautiful appearance

purity and innocence

beauty and fleetingness/fragility

Question 3

“worm”

Answer 3

parasitic; living and taking off of others

a metaphor for patriarchy or upper classes as corrosive and destroying from within

worm as a form of the absurd; reducing threatening patriarchs to a worm reflects the harmless way they view themselves and their actions

Question 4

impact of “invisible” in “the invisible worm”

Answer 4

the issue is hidden/not openly discussed; connotations of secrecy, taboo or unpredictable/inescapability; more dangerous

Question 5

impact of repeated animal imagery

Answer 5

religious connotations; e.g. serpent in garden of eden

idea of the people with the power being deceitful and should not be trusted; caused the fall of humanity despite the blame being placed on eve

reflects societys ability to turn a blind eye to male/upper class violence until it is ingrained in society and irreversable

Question 6

the setting

Answer 6

“night” “howling storm”

Question 7

impact of the setting

Answer 7

creates a dangerous atmosphere

cant see the danger like the invisible worm means you are unable to defend yourself or fight back

also reflects secrecy of society and willingness to let things slide unless they are public; the dark isnt dangerous because people become more violent but because people cant be seen being violent

Question 8

“crimson joy”

Answer 8

love, passion and death or beauty, sacred unity and destruction

juxtaposing colour reflects the 2 perspectives of the man (violence) and the woman (lover)

“joy” reflects male joy of violence and destruction of “crimson”

Question 9

what is the poem about (physically)

Answer 9

a dying flower due to a worm

Question 10

“bed”

Answer 10

ambiguous whether its the flower bed, marriage or the death bed; fine line between delicacy, love and violence

Question 11

rhyme of “joy” and “destroy”

Answer 11

brings the two words together; emphasising their interconnection within those with power, blake criticising the hierarchy for rewarding the most violent in humanity to deal with the least consequences (the upper classes, men)

the rhyme is arguable already masculine phonetically