William Blake: The Sick Rose
‘The sick rose’ is a very ambiguous poem and open to several interpretations, Blake uses lots of imagery and effective metaphors. My first impression of the poem was that it’s very negative and includes elements of destruction revenge and perhaps even murder. I think the poems about two lovers, one of which cheated on their partner and the other wants revenge.
The poem is very contradictory, this is shown in the first line ‘O Rose, thou art sick.’ A rose usually symbolises beauty, romance and love, it’s a very feminine image but then it is said to be sick so we instantly sense something is wrong. The rose could be damaged or hurt. I think the rose is playing the part of the woman and the worm is personified as the man. ‘The invisible worm’ The image of the worm is very unusual but yet very effective. Worms are seen as slimy, dirty, and they feed on death, it even holds some kind of sexual element. The fact that the worm is invisible indicates it can’t be stopped and nothing can be done because it can’t be seen. I believe this adds mystery to the poem because the rose didn’t see it coming and was totally unaware and vulnerable to the worms attack. This is in a way saying the rose has no protection and is powerless but on the other hand, although a rose is innocent and beautiful, in contrast it has thorns which can cause pain. Perhaps Blake is trying to say that the rose deserved to be hurt.
