O Rose thou art sick.

The invisible worm, That flies in the night In the howling storm: Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy: And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy. "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 A rose symbolizes all that is beautiful in nature and in God's eyes, but all that gives off life must come to an end. According to William Blake, a rose is precious, but needs to be nurtured. William Blake's use of the written word "Rose" in his poem is capitalized, not for beginning one of his short and brief lines, but instead to capture the reader's eye

on the word "Rose" and the image itself (William Blake, line 1). With that image, what other rose can be envisioned none other than a red "crimson" rose (line6)? The imagery that I have depicted from this rose is seeing nothing but a deep sultry red, bright enough that it stands out to all that flies and lurks through the night. Yet behind its beauty and appeal, its sickness which has overtaken this rose's veins appeals to a darker being enthralled by its slow and wilting death. Seeing or hearing the word sickness we are drawn to the word death and its dark unwelcoming claws. Sickness is a small beginning stage of death; it comes in all shapes and sizes. For example, a human being can become deathly ill once bitten by a poisonous snake, This poem is therefore a microcosm of the Songs themselves, relying on a mixture of imagery, both sexual and religious, to portray what is ultimately Blake's foremost theme in this collection of poems namely, the corruption of innocence.