Poetry Thursday - The Sick Rose by William Blke

 

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.

     - William Blake (author and artist)

The meaning of “The Sick Rose” is hotly contested (see here, and elsewhere, for the academic battlefield). 

The poem has been set to music by various people; my favourite is Benjamin Britten's setting as "The Elegy" in his Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings. Several versions are available on youtube, this one with a nice moonlit seascape to add further mood. A version sung by Ian Bostridge is here.