Comparing The Sick Rose, My Pretty Rose Tree, and The Lily

Comparing The Sick Rose, My Pretty Rose Tree, and The Lily

William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757, to James, a

hosier, and Catherine Blake. Two of his six siblings died in infancy.

From early childhood, Blake spoke of having visions—at four he saw God

"put his head to the window”. Since then Blake’s vision was based on

the idea of cosmology and that’s where he got his framework of images

and ideas. Blake takes traditional images and presents them in a fresh

form unlike other poets (for example, Robert Burns’ “My Love is Like a

Red Red Rose’). As he was a contemporary writer, he has his own

conventional ways.

He published his most popular collection, Songs of Innocence, in 1789

and followed it, in 1794, with Songs of Experience. Some readers

interpret Songs of Innocence in a straightforward fashion, considering

it primarily a children's book, but others have found hints at parody

or critique in its seemingly naive and simple lyrics. ‘Songs of

Innocence and Experience’ are two contrary states of a human soul.

Innocence may be identified with the earthly paradise and experience

with the wilderness. These two states are not jus sacred and profane

but they are interactive. All three poems are from the ‘Songs of

Experience’.

In ‘The Sick Rose’, the speaker is addressing the rose saying that it

is sick. An "invisible" worm has stolen into its bed in a "howling

storm" and under the cover of night. The "dark secret love" of this

worm is destroying the rose's life. The traditional view of the rose

could be a symbol of love and beauty on the surface. While the rose

exists as a beautiful natural object that has become infec...

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...g his life and times (emblem of the lily having a closed

side). A feminine explanation for this poem could be that the rose and

lily are expressive symbols while the lily is the suppressed one in

society.

In conclusion, all three poems are related to relationships and love

in some way. For example, ‘The Sick Rose’ is about a worm jealous of

the rose tree and how it corrupts the rose; ‘My Pretty Rose Tree’ is

also to do with relationships (critics have said that this poem is

autobiographical); and the general interpretation of ‘The Lily’ could

be about how love has two sides and love can be both pleasurable as

well as painful. Another similarity is that the poems are relatively

short although they have a deeper meaning to them; two poems in

particular which are short are “My Pretty Rose Tree’ and ‘The Sick

Rose’.