Commentary on "The Sick Rose" by Blake

676 Words3 Pages
Commentary on “The Sick Rose” By Karim Rowel “The Sick Rose” by William Blake is a suggestive poem about a rose, which falls ill because of an invisible worm’s dark love. In fact, this poem is so suggestive that it can only be understood through various interpretations. While I am incapable of interpreting this poem in every way possible (as is any person) I have come to understand “The Sick Rose” in a number of ways. For example, the rose has often been understood as a symbol of affection and passion as well as a woman with perfect external beauty. Passion is originated from the Latin word “passio”, which means suffering. Therefore, it is possible that the woman’s passion is in fact the invisible worm, whose “dark secret love/ Does thy life destroy”. “bed/ Of crimson joy” can also be interpreted as an allusion to the desires of this woman because the color crimson is often associated with passion and lust. Hence, it’s possible to interpret this poem as the destructive relationship, which a woman has with herself. Her overwhelming passion, which she cannot control slowly “eats her from the inside”. Another way of interpreting this could be in more symbolic and surrealistic way. “The invisible worm,/ That flies in the night,/ In the howling storm” is the key part of the poem for this interpretation. Worms actually do destroy flowerbeds, so there is nothing suggestive about this, but it is the epithet “invisible”, which catches the reader’s attention. In this context the word invisible has a negative connotation because of its subject: worm. Because of this the word is associated with deceit. “That flies in the night” is also a particularly interesting and unexpected phrase in this context, as worms do not tend to fly. However, butterflies (the metamorphic state of a caterpillar) do. Since caterpillars and worms have a strong external resemblance and
Open Document