Analysis of "The Sick Rose"Written by William Blake.

In the first line, the poet addresses the rose; I think that he anthropomorphizes the rose as a beautiful girl by doing this. This rose is already in a state of decay and the sickness of the rose, which is a feature of human beings, symbolizes its death. A rose, in most cultures including my own, regularly represents love, loyalty and beauty, and is usually a woman. This rose has been destroyed by an “invisible worm” which is addressed as masculine by using the pronoun ‘his’ in the seventh line instead of ‘its’.

The poet portrays the worm negatively. The worm represents the rapist who has destroyed the rose. A worm is a symbol of the male sexual organ. It is also a symbol of something destructive. The word “invisible” may indicate that nobody can find out his crime. Also, the word “night” in the third line supports this idea; night is a symbol of things secret and hidden. The poet wants to say that everything is done in darkness. The “night” provides the criminal with silence and invisibility. The “howling storm” in the forth line portrays the violence of the crime. It makes an evil and frightening sound.

Words such as bed ’, ‘crimson joy and ‘dark secret love’ have a sexual meaning. In the fifth line, “Bed” represents the sexual act in bed; the rapist fulfils his desires in the bed of the victim. The word ‘crimson’ means dark red. It has been seen as a symbol for passion, violence, and anger. It is also a symbol of blood, or the remains of the crime. The joy here may be the rapist’s joy.

The seventh line “And his dark secret love” could refer to sex; it seems to be a bad and sinister love. The use of the word “love” in the position is confusing. This love is ‘dark’ and ‘secret’. This indicates something ominous. I think that the girl and the rapist were in love; she may refuse to make love with him so he raped her. The last line “Does thy life destroy” is something about death. The whole crime has destroyed the girl’s happiness, vitality and life.

In short, the poem depends on symbolism to tell us a story of a girl who has passed through a terrifying experience. I like this poem because it is full of meaning despite the fact that it is too short. Though I face some difficulties understanding the symbols, I like how Blake symbolizes the crime properly. The symbols in this poem allow the reader to imagine the event that take place in it more widely, because of that the story of the poem is so admirable.