The Sick Rose

Paradise Lost by John Milton (1674)

The themes surrounding corruption, loss of innocence, and the decay of the natural world that Blake explores in “The Sick Rose” have their roots at least as far back as the Book of Genesis in the Old Testament. John Milton’s retelling of the fall of mankind from the Garden of Eden, titled Paradise Lost, is one of the cornerstones of Blake’s theology. Blake viewed Milton’s Paradise Lost as a revelation of some of the deeper religious mysteries and saw himself as continuing Milton’s work. In particular, Milton’s depiction of Satan as a staunch individualist fighting oppression informed Blake’s ideas about evil and the role of heaven and hell.

“The Blossom“ by William Blake (1789)

From the Songs of Innocence section of Songs of Innocence and of Experience, “The Blossom” demonstrates the simple and song-like qualities of the poems intended to juxtapose those from Songs of Experience. Blake’s use of repetition, sometimes of whole lines as with “Pretty, Pretty Robin” (Lines 7, 11), gives the Songs of Innocence a juvenile simplicity that resists deep reading. While this resistance is not perfect, comparing “The Blossom” with “The Sick Rose” gives a good sense of how different sections of Blake’s collection deal with similar subjects.