The Sick Rose

The Sick Rose is another example of flower symbolism being used to highlight sexuality, and the consequences of its regulation, while determining links between humanity and the natural world. Contrary to its antitype The Blossom, in this poem from Experience, the themes of death and decay are explicitly linked to the control of desire and abolishment of free love, of which Blake was an avid supporter.

The Sick Rose

O Rose thou art sick.

The invisible worm

That flies in the night

In the howling storm:

Has found thy bed

Of crimson joy:

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy.

Form & Structure

Unlike most of Blake’s poems, this one is particularly short and succinct, composed of two quatrains following an ABCB rhyme scheme. The rhythm is primarily anapaestic dimeter accompanied by occasional loose iambic metre, leading it to adopt the form of a song. The fact that lines 2-8 are all one sentence creates the notion of a unified and uninterruptable experience being explored in the poem. The momentum following “sick” to “destroy” also creates the sense that the rose’s circumstances are inescapable.

Stanza One

The symbol of the rose in medieval literature typically represented chastity and virginity; serves as a conventional symbol of love and passion; and may also be linked to mortality in terms of sex and death. It also represents an earthly and not spiritual love.

When the rose is described as “sick”, it has been interpreted that it is not love itself that has caused this sickness, but a particular and corruptive kind of love. Some critics believe that the rose, having moved away from the innocence of chastity and virginity, has become sick from the materialism of the world of experience, thereby her own expression of love has been corrupted.

The “invisible worm” can literally be a cankerworm, which attack rosebuds. But this is English Lit, there’s always a metaphorical meaning! Worms can be associated with death and decay, as they are found on dead corpses (lovely macabre imagery there!). If we look back to medieval literature, the “worm” also refers to snake/serpent, thereby presenting the biblical imagery of the Garden of Eden and how Eve was seduced by Satan in the disguise of a serpent. If we expand on this idea of the worm being Satan, because it is “invisible”, this refers to the Christian teaching that the devil lurks unseen as a master of disguise. While flowers are used as vaginal imagery, the worm is the counterpart to this as phallic imagery. This links to Blake’s belief, that when humankind “fell”, the sexes were separated, and our capacity for sexual ecstasy was reduced from the whole body to genitalia alone.

The “flies in the night” suggests that the worm is active at night time, a time when people are most at prey to their fears and fantasies. There is also a sense of dishonesty among these “flies of the night” that is perverse and unhealthy in Blake’s eyes. They may represent the Church’s doctrines that force people to repress their own sexuality and emotions, leading to love sickness.

Because of the ABCB rhyme scheme, “worm” and “storm” are linked together, connecting the rose’s agent of destruction with the force of nature. The “storm” suggests a time of ungovernable, frightening turmoil and passion that is potentially destructive, and in the case of the rose, it is.

Stanza Two

Reference to “has found” has been linked back to Psalms 90:8, which refers to the exposure of “secret sins”. The imagery of a “secret bed” may be interpreted literally as a flower bed, but may also refer to a marriage bed.

The colour of “crimson” typically connotes passion, but also blood, shame, and in the Old Testament the colours of crimson and scarlet denote sin. Because the worm has “found thy bed/Of crimson joy”, these ideas have reached the innermost part of the rose. The rose’s capacity for “joy” is infected by life-denying emotions, ultimately leading to its death. “crimson joy” could also be the blood shed from losing its virginity. The linking of the positive emotion of “joy” to the negative connotations of “crimson” is also reflected in the rhyme scheme, where “joy” and “destroy” are connecting, suggesting that this positive experience ultimately leads to the rose’s own destruction. It also suggests that the rose, by engaging in these supposed “sinful” acts, is not innocent of its own destruction. The sibilance used in “crimson”, “secret”, “his”, “does” and “destroy” bind all of these words together in this same sense. It is an adulteration of purity (thought this is a good phrase to use!)

Blake, in his other work “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” describes:

“These two classes of men are always upon earth…the Prolific, the other the Devouring.”

These two classes distinguish the roles fallen humankind has to play in terms of creation on earth. While the “Prolifics” co-create, the “Devouring” use what has been created. While the rose is the prolific of the two, the worm is clearly the “Devouring” in that it uses the rose for its own sexual pleasure, ultimately causing the destruction of the rose.

So what is Blake trying to tell us in this poem? Contextually, prostitution at the time it was written (1794) was on the rise, and so was the spread of the STD syphilis. Blake may be telling the reader about how after the Fall, love and sexuality was considered shameful, which was enshrined in laws and rules brought into power by the Church and the State or the Monarchy. Because of this, love was forced to be associated with destructive forces.

In relation to the idea of the Devouring, Blake may also be warning the reader of how the lust to exert control over others may masquerade as love, making love devouring and destructive.

For a short poem, there’s a lot to be said about this one, and it is perfect as a comparison to The Blossom in terms of love and sexuality should it come up in the exam.