i´m from argetina
and my literature teacher, send me to do
an analysis about "the sick rose" william blake
of 3 paragraphs, i have to include, denotation, connotation of words and expressions, diction, tone, atmosphere or mood, theme, imagery, persona
is for 2 days
and i dont now what to do, beause i was absnt thata day when she said it
please help, what to include or do
thnx
naty

[www.english.uga.edu] />

Click (anywhere) on the picture.


[www.sparknotes.com] />

SparkNotes may make you register an e-mail addy. Mine has been safe from spam so far, but use your own judgment.

Just an observation but the form description on sparknotes fails to mention that the seventh line contains a metrical trick that is at the heart of the poem. There is a spondaic substitition, the only change in the poem from the otherwise iambic-anapestic meter. It wasn't an accident but a simple poetic trick by Blake to bring emphasis to the line.

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.

Until the seventh line, there is still hope. After, none.

You lost me.


O Rose thou art sick. (iamb, anapest)
The invisible worm, (anapest, anapest)
That flies in the night (iamb, anapest)
In the howling storm: (anapest, iamb)

Has found out thy bed (unclear, sounds like amphibrach, iamb)
Of crimson joy: (iamb, iamb)
And his dark secret love (anapest, anapest?)
Does thy life destroy. (anapest, iamb?)

Where's the spondee?

dark sec

We've had some discussions on the meaning of the poem (the imagery and symbolism) in the general forum. Go there, click on search and select all dates.

I am seriously bad at intepreting most poetry. What is he trying to say about the rose. Why is it sick? What is this "worm" supposed to represent?

The rose = something beautiful
the worm = something bad

So the rose is devoured by the love of the worm.

You can fill in plenty of things for both the rose and the worm. It is a very symbolic poem. The rose, for example, could be love between two people and the worm jealousy. Or, as often has been mentioned, the rose can be romantic sex and the worm syphilis, a sexual disease. Many, many more interpretations are possible.