Composition

Outer composition

The poem “The Sick Rose” by William Blake has a simple outer composition. The poem has 8 verses in total and is separated into two stanzas of the same length. A stanza composed of four lines is also called a quatrain. The verses are of a short length, from three to five words each. 

The first stanza contains four verses: 

O Rose thou art sick. 

The invisible worm, 

That flies in the night 

In the howling storm: (ll. 1-4)

The second stanza is separated from the first through enjambment, as the poem only contains two sentences. The first line is self-contained, while lines 2-8 make up the second sentence of the poem. The second stanza also contains four verses:

Has found out thy bed

Of crimson joy:

And his dark secret love

Does thy life destroy. (ll...

Teksten herover er et uddrag fra webbogen. Kun medlemmer kan læse hele indholdet.

Få adgang til hele Webbogen.

Som medlem på Studienet.dk får du adgang til alt indhold.

Køb medlemskab nu

Allerede medlem? Log ind