Personification

"The Sick Rose"

By: William Blake

(poem from poetryfoundation.org)

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.

Biographical Information

            William Blake was born in London on November 28, 1757, to James, a hosier, and Catherine Blake. At age ten, Blake expressed a wish to become a painter, so his parents sent him to drawing school. Two years later, Blake began writing poetry. When he turned fourteen, he apprenticed with an engraver because art school proved too costly. One of Blake's assignments as apprentice was to sketch the tombs at Westminster Abbey, exposing him to a variety of Gothic styles from which he would draw inspiration throughout his career. After his seven-year term ended, he studied briefly at the Royal Academy. 

            In 1782, he married an illiterate woman named Catherine Boucher. Blake taught her to read and to write, and also instructed her in draftsmanship. Later, she helped him print the illuminated poetry for which he is remembered today; the couple had no children. In 1784 he set up a printshop with a friend and former fellow apprentice, James Parker, but this venture failed after several years. For the remainder of his life, Blake made a meager living as an engraver and illustrator for books and magazines. Blake's first printed work, Poetical Sketches (1783), is a collection of apprentice verse, mostly imitating classical models. The poems protest against war, tyranny, and King George III's treatment of the American colonies. He published his most popular collection, Songs of Innocence, in 1789 and followed it, in 1794, with Songs of Experience.

             In 1800 Blake moved to the seacoast town of Felpham, where he lived and worked until 1803 under the patronage of William Hayley. He taught himself Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Italian, so that he could read classical works in their original language. In Felpham he experienced profound spiritual insights that prepared him for his mature work, the great visionary epics written and etched between about 1804 and 1820. Milton (1804-08), Vala, or The Four Zoas (1797; rewritten after 1800), and Jerusalem (1804-20) have neither traditional plot, characters, rhyme, nor meter. They envision a new and higher kind of innocence, the human spirit triumphant over reason. 

(biographical information from poets.org)

Explanation of Technique

            Personification is a type of figure of speech. In these poems, things or objects are given human characteristics. The attributes can make personification poems interesting. Also, using personification in poems can add deeper meaning to the text. The personification I spotted in this poem is the rose being sick.

Interpretation of Poem

            "The Sick Rose", by William Blake, describes a rose being sick and a worm destroying its life. William Blake describes the rose being the worm's dark secret love. The message this poem is trying to tell the reader is love is not all what it seems. Also, to be careful who you associate yourself with. 

(picture from vintagefan.devianart.com)

Visual Explanation

           In William Blake's poem, "The Sick Rose", it was about a rose on the brink of death. So, I chose a photo showing a rose not looking healthy to give a visual representation of the rose in the poem.  I think this picture shows how the rose in the poem looked very well.