The loss of innocence is a theme Blake raises in several of the songs. ‘The Sick Rose’ of the Songs of Experience works as an eye-opener to the corrupt behaviour occurring at the time. It’s seems that Blake is showing how child prostitution was, and is, corruptive and wrong. The last line ‘And his dark secret love, Does thy life destroy’ refers to the innocence of youngsters being lost to the sexual acts which stay under wraps, but leave their unmistakable marks- either psychologically or physically- on those being prostituted. The disease syphilis was rife in the Eighteenth century, and the concept of life being destroyed through debauched sexual practise is precise as syphilis was fatal. Also, the idea of death spreading is accomplished further as syphilis not only could harm the man and girl involved in the sexual act, but could also pass on to the man’s wife and any children she later birthed.

An appropriate contrast to ‘The Sick Rose’ is ‘The Blossom’. As part of the Songs of In

nocence it is a reminder that Blake did not consider sex to be wrong, but rather any damaging or pernicious act. The major aim of ‘The Blossom’ seems to be to encourage physical love, and it admires it’s purity; ‘Seek your cradle narrow’, and although this line refers to sex, it is told in an honest, childlike way. In contrast to the line, ‘Has found thy bed, Of crimson joy,’ from ‘The Sick Rose’, which also suggests the penetration of female sexual organs, the tone is massively adverse. The latter metaphor sounds cruel and full of negative sexual feelings, of the pleasure given to one partner through the weakness of the other, as if no permission were granted. Blake regards ‘free love’ to be a great human gift, but here he criticises this idea taken to the extreme, of people misusing the poor and young to revel in their own power to do what they want. It seems Blake feels a huge miscarriage of justice has undergone, and he is trying to establish truth within his misguided society.

It is clear that Blake saw childhood as one of the most crucial parts of a human’s life, if not most. The infants are sown with seeds of either misery or optimism. Blake points out this injustice in these songs, as well as many others.

The usage of flowers in these songs, ‘rose’ and ‘blossom’ gives more conformation they are linked. However, the outcomes to the flowers are vastly different. In ‘The Sick Rose’ the flower; considered a national symbol of love and beauty,

Some topics in this essay:
Sick Rose’, Songs Innocence, It’s Blake, Twist’ Blake’s, William Blake’s, Songs Experience, Rose’ Blake’s, sick rose’, ‘the sick rose’, ‘the sick, ‘the blossom’, ‘infant sorrow’, songs innocence, blake’s view, world experience, songs experience, ‘infant joy’,