The Sick Rose

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
The Essential Blake
Selected and with an introduction by Stanley Kunitz.
The Ecco Press

Introduction and selection copyright © 1987 by Stanley Kunitz.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission of The Ecco Press.