Critical views on William Blake's "The sick Rose".

William Blake was a mystic poet and artist. He was largely unrecognised figure during his life time but now Blake is considered as a seminal writer in the history of the poetry of the Romantic Age. Blake's first volume, "Poetical Sketches" was published in 1783. Blake's poetic originality found in "Songs of Innocence" in 1789. As one of the first generation of Romantic poets, Blake is characterized by imagination and passion. For his idiosyncratic views, Blake was considered mad by his contemporaries. Blake for his expressiveness and creativity, and for the philosophical and mystical works, he held in high regard by later critics. His poetry is appealing to the feeling rather than to the intellect. To uphold and to promote the principles of democracy and equality, Blake would walk the streets of London wearing the red cap. His works mark the beginning of Romanticism in English literature. "The Book of Thel"(1789) along with "Songs of Innocence" manifests the early phase of Blake's highly distinctive mystic vision. Blake' "Songs of Innocence" and "Songs of Experience" are two complementary anthologies of poems. They present his ideas and vision of innocence and experience. These two volume showing the two contrary states of the human soul. As a poet of the soul, Blake defies all laws of logic. He expresses everything through subtle symbols with his poetic genius.

            "The Sick Rose" is one of the finest poems found in "Songs of Experience". It was published in 1794. "The Sick Rose" is a sequel to "The Blossom" in "Songs of Innocence" is celebrated through a picture of the life of nature that consists of a blossom, a sparrow, a robin and the green leaves. "The Sick Rose" exposes the process which corrupts the innocence portrayed in "The Blossom". The poem trace the growth of the poet from innocence to experience, from the role of a mere piper to that of the all knowing bard. Blake also does not offer a definite answer concerning his political and religious beliefs but, rather, presents disparate orthodox and unorthodox views to consider.

                William Blake's "The Sick Rose" represents the confrontation of Innocence and experience. While the rose stands for innocence, the worm represents experience. The poet looks at a rose and senses that the flower is sick. It conjures up the vision of a rose attacked in a stormy night by a destructive worm, and so Blake depicts it in his accompanying illustration. An invisible worm, has attacked the deep red petals of flower. The invisible worm flies in the night as well as in the howling storm. The attack to the petals may be taken as the expression of love on the part of the worm. Since, this love is vicious, it may be called seduction. However the love of the worm for the flower has made the flower diseased and will lead ultimately to the withering away of the flower. We may say that it refers to he destruction of love by selfishnes, of innocence by experience, of spiritual life by spiritual death.