The+Sick+Rose

=//The Sick Rose// by William Blake= Chapter 6, Page 641, Poem 62

William Blake

Born in London on November 28, 1757 Died August 12, 1827 Son of James and Catherine Blake Married to Catherine Boucher

Blake's parents viewed him as 'different' than the other kids. From a young age, Blake voiced that he had direct encounters with God, saw angels, and other figures that he thought were trying to speak to him. Blake's parents sent him to art school to become a painter, where he later began to write poetry. After the cost of art school became too much, Blake became an apprentice for a local artist. In this, he was exposed to Gothic styles which impacted his work. He then briefly attended the Royal Academy where he began to write poetry more and more. Blake became an engraver and illustrator for much of his life. This practice, however, also helped him print his poetry for more people to read. In Blake's work, Blake criticized war, tyranny, and King George III's treatment of the American colonies. Blake was a nonconformist, regarding imagination over reason, and much of his work came from inner vision and personal experience. Blake wanted his poetry to be read and understood by even the common people, and even learned multiple languages (like Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Italian) to enhance his work. Blake spent his final years very poor, eventually dying while living on the North coast of England.

//Theme//: **The theme of this poem is that beauty is always tampered with some form of a corrupting agent.**
 * **Theme** || //Death//

//Love//

//Violence// || "O Rose thou art sick." "Does thy life destroy."

"Has found out thy bed Of Crimson joy"

"And his dark secret love"

In the poem, the rose is described as something beautiful or ideal. The worm, however, is depicted as the dark killing force or maybe more chiefly, the corrupting agent as described in the theme. The worm is symbolically able to court the rose, engage in some form of intense love and passion, and it is in that violence that the death of the rose occurs. The rose, once beautiful, is now dead because of the worm. ||
 * **Imagery**


 * Literary Devices** || //Nature//

//Sickness//

//Love//

//Personification//

//Diction//

//Connotation// //Symbolism//

//Imagery// || "Rose" "The invisible worm" "In the howling storm"

"And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy."

"Of crimson joy" "And his dark secret love"

"O Rose, thou art sick!" "In the howling storm"

"Howling" "Crimson" "Dark secret"

"Has found out thy bed Of crimson joy"

"And his dark secret love Does thy life destroy."

The imagery and literary devices used throughout this poem are what makes the poem seem so long and as if it has so much depth, when in reality it is a very short poem. The speaker is able to effectively create imagery about nature, sickness, and passionate love. The speaker also uses many literary devices to achieve his analogy and create a story that, although short, has a lot of deeper meaning. ||
 * **Meter** || //2 quatrains//

//8 lines// || Rhyme scheme: ABCB DEFE

The speaker is interpreted as a number of things, most notably of a man who is watching flowers wilt and die in his garden as he metaphorically explains a comparison to what he sees occurring. ||
 * **Emotion,**
 * Tone, &**
 * Mood** || //Sadness//

//Passion//

//Darkness// || "O Rose thou art sick."

"Of crimson joy"

"Does thy life destroy."

There is a variety of emotion and mood throughout the poem, but some of the most powerful emotions stirred by the poem are sadness, passion, and darkness. Because the rose is sickly, we are sad. The intense passion and love the worm has for the rose, there is a deep sense of love and passion. Last... it is that exact love that leads to the eventual death of the rose. The death, in the last in, is the darkness of the poem. Not only do these techniques enhance the writing, but enhance the reader's experience when reading the poem. They can feel the words, and relate to them. ||

//The Sick Rose//
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.  

__Works Cited__
Blake, William. “The Sick Rose.” Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43682. Reconstructing English. unix.cc.wmich.edu/~cooneys/tchg/lit/blake/fruman.html. Shmoop. “The Sick Rose Summary.” Shmoop, www.shmoop.com/sick-rose/summary.html. “William Blake.” Poets.org, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/william-blake