The Sick Rose: William Blake’s Interpretation of Jeremiah 4:30
The Sick Rose: William Blake’s Interpretation of Jeremiah 4:30
Ever since the beginning of literature, people have taken passages, interpreted them, and have rewritten them in a more personal or modern language, or in order to apply it to a more modern or personal situation/event. One piece of literature that has been interpreted in many different ways is The Sick Rose, by William Blake. According to ‘Oh Rose, Thou Art Sick!’ Anti‐Individuation Forces In The Film American Beauty by David Hewison, some of these interpretations include,
“…the corrupting nature of illicit sexual desire: the ‘dark secret love’ which destroys life as the demands of the flesh destroy the needs of the spirit. Others have felt that it is not the illicitness of sexual desire that is the problem, rather it is when that desire is hidden or turned away from. In line with this latter interpretation, others (such as Gardner 1986) have seen the poem as an attack on a deadening piety which Blake saw as characterizing the religious atmosphere of his time, an attack which can be seen also in his Urizen books where religious and spiritual oppression are investigated through an alternative narrative of Genesis”(Hewison, 683).
However, the source that almost identically relates to The Sick Rose that William Blake unquestionably used was Jeremiah 4:30 and other Bible verses. The poem echoes this verse in its diction and its theme of self-destruction rooted in sin.
Jeremiah 4:30 says,”
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.”
This verse is God’s cry to Judah who is covered in sin. A prophet hopes to convict the falling nation that although they are in sin, God will not cast them away. “And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?” can be compared to Blake’s
Ever since the beginning of literature, people have taken passages, interpreted them, and have rewritten them in a more personal or modern language, or in order to apply it to a more modern or personal situation/event. One piece of literature that has been interpreted in many different ways is The Sick Rose, by William Blake. According to ‘Oh Rose, Thou Art Sick!’ Anti‐Individuation Forces In The Film American Beauty by David Hewison, some of these interpretations include,
“…the corrupting nature of illicit sexual desire: the ‘dark secret love’ which destroys life as the demands of the flesh destroy the needs of the spirit. Others have felt that it is not the illicitness of sexual desire that is the problem, rather it is when that desire is hidden or turned away from. In line with this latter interpretation, others (such as Gardner 1986) have seen the poem as an attack on a deadening piety which Blake saw as characterizing the religious atmosphere of his time, an attack which can be seen also in his Urizen books where religious and spiritual oppression are investigated through an alternative narrative of Genesis”(Hewison, 683).
However, the source that almost identically relates to The Sick Rose that William Blake unquestionably used was Jeremiah 4:30 and other Bible verses. The poem echoes this verse in its diction and its theme of self-destruction rooted in sin.
Jeremiah 4:30 says,”
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life.”
This verse is God’s cry to Judah who is covered in sin. A prophet hopes to convict the falling nation that although they are in sin, God will not cast them away. “And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do?” can be compared to Blake’s
Cited: Cervo, N. "Blake 's The Sick Rose." Explicator 48.4 (1990): 253. Academic Search Premier Hewison, David. "‘Oh Rose, Thou Art Sick!’ Anti‐Individuation Forces In The Film American Beauty." Journal Of Analytical Psychology 48.5 (2003): 683 Morton D. Paley. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1969. 36-48. Rpt. in Poetry Criticism Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 63. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Web Rigby Graham, et al. "Source For Blake 's 'The Sick Rose '?." American Notes & Queries ‘ 12.9/10 (1974): 157 "Welcome to Holy Bible the Site Dedicated to God 's Word. Check out the Online KJV ( King James Version) Bible and a Search." . N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2012.