The Sick Rose

“The Sick Rose” consists of two stanzas of four lines each. The poem’s lines each contain two stressed syllables and roughly conform to either iambic or anapestic dimeter. Some lines, such as “The invis | ible worm” (Line 2), are in perfect anapestic dimeter, while some lines, such as “Of Crim | son Joy” (Line 6), are in perfect iambic dimeter. Most of the poem’s lines, however, contain one iamb and one anapest. For instance, the opening line, “Oh Rose | thou art Sick,” has an iamb followed by an anapest, while the last line, “Does thy life | Destroy,” has an anapest followed by an iamb.

Dimeter gives the poem a sense of simplicity and directness that works to obscure its symbolic and narrative richness. The simple, short meter also reflects many of the works in the collection’s Songs of Innocence, some of which resemble children’s songs. However, Dimeter is quite rare in written poetry, especially prior to the modernist movement of the early 20th century, and even children’s songs tend to use longer meters.

Formally, “The Sick Rose” can be considered a lament, or a poem that expresses grief over a personal loss. In cases where the speaker’s loss is the life of another, laments often address those who were lost through apostrophe, or the address of an absent person or thing. In the case of Blake’s poem, the rose is imagined present and still alive. The speaker laments the rose’s loss of innocence rather than its loss of life.