The Sick Rose Question Answer

The Sick Rose
William Blake
Long Questions Answers

1. Bring out the central idea of the poem “The Sick Rose”.

Ans: ‘The Sick Rose’, consisting of only eight lines, is one of the most famous poems of William Blake. It expresses the themes of love and innocence as well as evil and destruction. This poem which is taken from ‘Songs of Experience’, portrays two main characters – the ‘rose’ as innocence and the ‘worm’ as evil. The ‘rose’ symbolized love and innocence whereas ‘The invisible worm / That flies in the night’ has been presented as the destroyer of this love and innocence. The worm makes the rose ‘sick’. Here Blake has tried to draw the attention of the readers to one of the bitter truth of life, that is a beautiful relation of love can be destroyed by a suspect or by harmful experience. Thus in the poem ‘The Sick Rose’, Blake has successfully presented a simple but complex nature of human beings towards their love relation.

2. Give the substance of the poem ‘The Sick Rose’.

Ans: The poem ‘The Sick Rose’ is a very symbolical poem. In the very first line of the poem, Blake has addressed the rose as ‘sick’. An invisible worm that flies in the howling night has found the rose’s bed of crimson joy. Thus the worm destroys the innocence and purity of the rose which is symbolic of love. As the worm affects the rose with his evil intention, the rose looks pale and sick. In the poem ‘The Sick Rose’, William Blake gives a complete vision of love symbolized by the rose. The theme of the poem is not only about a rose losing its colour but also about the destructive force symbolized by an invisible worm. The theme of the poem, therefore, suggests the destruction of love by selfishness and experience.

3. How has the poet described the worm and its activities in the poem “The Sick Rose”?

Ans: In the poem “The Sick Rose” the poet has described the worm in detail. The worm flies in the night of howling storm and is is invisible to the rose. The rose is unaware that the worm has found out the bed of the rose. In the bed of the rose the worm turns Crimson in joy with his dark secret love for the rose.
Though he derives joy out of his love, actually he is destroying the rose with his secretive and dark love. The poet has imagined the worm as a male and it is aggressive and greedy in nature.

4. “O! Rose thou art sick” — Why, according to the poet is the rose sick?

Ans: The poet has addressed the rose in his poem and declared that the rose is sick. Then he tells about the cause of his sickness. He informed the rose that a worm which flies in the night of howling storm has stealthily entered into its bed. This worm is destroying the life of the rose with his dark and secret love and at the same time deriving Crimson pleasure from the roses bed. The rose is unaware of the worm’s deceitful and destructive activity and the poet warns the rose, that internally it is losing its life blood and getting sick.

👉 WB Class 11 English All Notes: Click Here

➤ Subscribe our YouTube channel: Click Here

➤ Join our Facebook page: TextbookPlus

The Sick Rose Broad Questions Answers | Class 11 English Suggestion | The Sick Rose Long Questions Answers | Important Question and Answer from the Sick Rose