The Sick Rose
William Blake
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" was written by the British poet William Blake. First published in Songs of Innocence and Experience in 1794, it is one Blake's best-known poems, while also remaining one of his most enigmatic. In eight short lines, the speaker addresses the "Rose" of the title, telling it that an "invisible worm" has made it sick. This crafty worm has flown through a stormy night to satisfy its "dark secret love" in the rose's "bed"—an action that will "destroy" the rose's life. The poem is filled with symbolism, but there are a wide range of theories about what, exactly, the worm and rose represent. Generally speaking, the worm is a corrupting figure, preying on the innocent life-force of the beautiful rose. Both worm and rose are personified, and the poem is heavy with sexual suggestion—leading many critics to theorize that the poem depicts the oppression of sexuality and desire by the Christian authorities of the day.
Summary
Oh rose, you are sick. An unseen worm has flown under the cover of a dark and stormy night.
The worm has discovered your bed of deep red joy. Now, the worm's dark, hidden love is destroying your life.
Themes
Death, Destruction, and Innocence
“The Sick Rose” is one of William Blake's most hotly contested poems—there are many theories out there as to what the poem means! What is clear, though, is that the poem features two main characters: a rose, and an “invisible worm” that has made the rose sick. If the rose is read as a symbol, as it often is, for the natural beauty and majesty of creation, then the poem becomes an allegory for such beauty's inevitable destruction—for the fact that nothing can last forever, and that death and decay come for all living things. The rose's fate may also represent the corruption of innocence by the harsh realities of the world.
Roses, with their complex network of colorful petals, often represent both love and loveliness in literature, and that seems to be what's happening in the poem as well. In its mention of the flower's “crimson joy,” the poem associates the rose with vibrant, natural beauty. But this rose is also “sick,” thanks to the “invisible worm” that's tracked the rose down.
Roses, like all plants, do literally face various dangers from worms, bugs, insects, and other pests. The beauty of the rose offers no protection against these kinds of external threats. On one level, then, the worm might represent the idea that death, destruction, and decay come for all living things. The worm—a creature of the dirt, burrowing deep in the dark muck of the earth—may also represent the way that earthly society inevitably corrupts even the purest and loveliest of beings.
The fact that the poem personifies the worm as a hardy and determined figure—one that flies at night of “howling storm” in order to have its way with the rose—further suggests that the forces of destruction and/or corruption will always get their way in the end, that, inevitably, the rose will lose its innocence and die.
It’s worth remembering that this poem appears in Blake's Songs of Experience, which offers a kind of real-world take on the innocent perspectives and ideas presented in the poet's earlier Songs of Innocence. While the former book celebrates the majesty of creation, the Songs of Experience show how this creation is corrupted and destroyed—an idea that seems to line right up with the worm's destruction of the rose.
Sex and Desire
“The Sick Rose” is often interpreted as an allegory for the corrupting influence of sexual desire. That said, William Blake was actually an advocate for sexual liberation well ahead of his time. With this in mind, the poem seems to critique the way that sexual unions are so often shrouded in secrecy, darkness, and shame. The poem thus becomes an allegory not for the corrupting influence of sexual desire itself, but for the damage caused by the suppression of that desire.
A rose is a conventional symbol of love, romance, and femininity (often linked to the vagina itself). In this context, the worm can read as a phallic representation of the male sexual organ, which here seeks to penetrate the rose’s bed (meaning both flower bed and the conventional type of bed). The poem certainly plays with these connotations, with the rose’s “bed” offering up a kind of “crimson joy.”
But though the worm represents strong desire, it can only act on this desire by remaining hidden. And despite the mention of “joy,” the union between the rose and the worm is neither openly joyful nor celebratory. The worm’s desire is “dark,” “secret,” and can only be fulfilled in the anonymity afforded by travelling during a “howling storm” at night. The worm’s desire is literally and figuratively forced underground, perhaps gesturing towards societal ideas about sex that are based on shame, guilt, and sinfulness.
The nature of the worm’s so-called love, then, is damaging and destructive. It seems that it’s the “dark[ness]” and secrecy of the worm’s love that “destroys” the rose’s life—rather than the action of loving itself. While love is usually something positive and nourishing, here is a vision of love corrupted into a deadly force. While love is usually life-affirming, here it’s a killer. And though the poem doesn’t delve too deeply into what makes this love so corrupt, it’s the worm’s distinguishing feature of invisibility that makes this union so grotesque. The rose doesn’t even necessarily know of the worm’s existence, adding another unsettling layer of seediness and secrecy.
In the unhealthy union between worm and rose, then, sex and desire cease to be joyful, (re)productive, or creative. Though sex is the method by which the human race maintains its presence on this planet, here sex—or its suppression—is a destructive, evil force. The worm is invisible, both there and not there. That is, though sexual desire is ever-present, its natural fulfillment depends upon the prevailing attitudes towards sex. Arguably, then, the sickness of the rose stands in for the sickness of repressed sexuality in general. In other words, the poem suggests that society has lost perspective on the naturalness—and innocent joy—of sex.
병든 장미
오 장미야, 너는 지금 병들었구나.
밤에 울부짖는 폭풍 속에서
날아다니는
눈에 보이지 않는 벌레가
선홍색 즐거움의
너의 침대를 찾아냈다.
그리고 그의 어두운 비밀스런 사랑이
너의 생명을 파괴한다.
* 주제 : 이기심에 의한 사랑의 파괴, 경험에 의한 순수성의 파괴
* 병든 장미 : 예로부터 '장미'는 여성의 아름다움을 나타낸다. 따라서 이 시의 제목인 '병든 장미'는 경험의 세계에서 악과 더러움에 의해 짓밟힌 여성을 나타낸다고 볼 수 있다.
* 밤 & 울부짖는 폭풍- 인간의 원초적인 성적 본능이 적나라하게 노출되는 무의식의 영역.
이 시에서 벌레는 밤에 무서운 폭풍 속에서 보이지 않게 은밀히 찾아온다. 만약 눈에 보이게 찾아온다면 장미가 그 사랑을 받아들이지 않을 수도 있기 때문이다.
* 벌레- 악, 더러움, 부도덕성, 그리고 남성을 상징
벌레의 사랑은 어둡고 은밀한 사랑이기 때문에 생명을 파괴한다.
* "선홍색 즐거움의 침대를 찾아냈다" - '선홍색'이라는 색은 성적인 의미를 함축하고 있으며, '찾아냈다'는 것은 성적인 것으로부터 도망가려는 여성과 여성으로부터 성적인 것을 추구하려는 남성의 이미지를 떠올리게끔 하는 구절.
* "어두운 비밀스런 사랑이 너의 생명을 파괴한다"- 악에 물든 사랑은 어둡고 은밀하며, 이러한 사랑에 빠져들면 생명마저 타락한다는 것을 의미.