... Blake uses the rose, which has historically signified femininity, to provide the reader with a sense of the homosexual's frail, feminine nature. The "invisible worm that flies by night", is a bold reference to the turbulent penis of the sick rose, whose debauched behaviors are performed as surreptitiously as ... Nazareth. The use of symbolism in this poem seems less metaphoric than it does discernible. Blake uses the words invisible, night, and secret, evenly throughout the poem so as not to leave the reader with any question as to the private nature of homosexual behavior ... written f...

• Word Count: 556
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate