This poem is a beautiful piece of imagery that has a rather weird speaker. He decides to talk to a flower, a sick rose, and describe her beauty alongside her sickness. The readers can feel the pain and despair of the speaker who cannot help the beauty and is left there to watch how the beautiful flower is being ruined.
The poem describes the speaker talking to the rose. The flower is dying because of the worm inside of it. The parasite uses the night storming time to affect the flower when it can not be seen. As a result, the rose is dying because of the worm and the “dark secret love” (“The Sick Rose”) it possesses. This poem has short lines that make it sound sadder and more gruesome, and they also emphasize the tragic ending of the work.
The poem is a metaphor for strong and passionate feelings of the speaker. The rose symbolizes love and the author’s emotions. He is a person in love who has dreams and beautiful feelings toward a particular someone. Nevertheless, something affects that situation; it is the worm. The choice the author made is not surprising because the worm is connected to the Bible; it is similar to the Biblical snake and is something that carries negative feelings and causes horrific consequences. Thus, in the poem, the worm is a symbol of ruin and damage. It is also connected to the ground, therefore, it may symbolize the death itself. The readers get an idea of the author being in love with someone pure and beautiful, but then, this person was affected by somebody dark and evil. This experience ended romantic relations and destroyed the loved one, so the speaker has no one left to love.
The sickness of the rose symbolizes the agony of love when the author is unable to remain the same and is hurting because of the pain he is receiving. Interestingly, the rose itself does not suffer in the poem as the speaker is the only one who notices the flower is dying. It may mean many different things, but the one explanation of this symbol may be that the partner the speaker loved did not recognize the danger and secretly enjoyed it. For example, when the author writes about “crimson joy”, it implies satisfaction the rose has experienced. Therefore, the flower – or the loved one – may be guilty, too.
It is important to add that the worm operates in the night which symbolizes the secrecy within society. People tend to do many things secretly without telling others, and they often do something immoral and unethical this way. The author implies that the worm’s behavior symbolizes some immoral act, and the speaker as a viewer of the entire process is the one hurting the most. It is interesting taking into consideration the flower is dying, but it does not realize this. It may mean that the love is dying too although the loved person does not notice it.
The speaker in the poem is also a very interesting hero. He is a very emotional and passionate individual who feels the nature and notices the smallest changes in it. The readers get a feeling that it is the writer and his dramatic experience, and they see many connections between the author and the storyline. Although the speaker is extremely emotional, it is easy to relate to him due to his purity at heart and genuine feelings he does not try to hide.
William Blake: “The Poison Tree”
This poem is very different from the previous one since it shifts on different feelings of the speaker. The author describes how to deal with the emotions of anger when they arise (Blake). For instance, he gives advice on how to stop the anger when being around a friend and foe. Although the speaker does not have a name, the readers do not only feel the author’s presence behind it, but also relate to the main hero of the story. The overall poem is very metaphoric since it serves as a symbol of ending the conflict. Blake suggests the people should not keep the anger, but overcome it, otherwise the individuals would have to face many negative consequences.
In the beginning, it is important to praise the rhyming of the poem which makes it very easy to follow and understand. Due to the short and strong sentences, the author gets straight to the point and makes his claim about anger. In the first stanza of the poem, the author focuses on communicating with a friend in case there is anger between the two. It is essential to talk and explain one’s point of view as well as accept another one in order to avoid the conflict. The individual should not let one’s personal feelings like dislike or prejudice cause further arguments and complications. The poet uses an example when a person does not like another speaker. Due to the dislike, the anger between the two does not go away, but keeps on growing and leading to further tensions. Further, the author compares the anger people feel with a poison tree. For example, the tree is filled with tears and the fear inside the individual; and it is something that people do when they let the anger pile up inside of them. The author makes the readers wonder whether he criticizes or accepts growing a poison tree because the poet simply narrates the story without any judgments in the middle of the work. Blake reveals his true feelings and beliefs in the last stanza of the poem. The speaker’s foe is dead because he/she eat the fruit from poisonous tree, and the speaker is genuinely happy for that. He sees the corpse and enjoys the view. This ending contrasts with the main idea of the poem which is to end the anger and never let it destroy a person from the inside or turn one’s feelings and thoughts into poison.
It is important to pay attention to the speaker who is dying to share his story and scare the audience alongside the process. The analysis of the speaker enables readers to understand the contrast between the plot and the main idea of the poem. The speaker wants to terrify the readers with his outlook at life. At first, he explains the communication with someone he likes, and then, he becomes much more cruel describing the communication with an individual he does not like. This communication does not end well since the speaker keeps on piling up many angry feelings and emotions. As a result, his anger, which is the poisonous tree itself, destroys the foe, and the speaker is very happy because of that. It is an amazing example to show people how not to act. By looking at the cruelty of the speaker, they realize the importance of letting one’s anger go and never hating anyone. They simply do not want to become like the speaker, so the author has achieved his purpose with the help of the horrifying hero in the poem. He has helped people to see the way of dealing with anger so they overcome and not store it.
William Blake: “London”
This poem describes the speaker as he walks around London. The man visits many different places and talks about the things he sees. For instance, he notices the emotions and atmosphere that are widespread all over the place. The speaker talks about the despair and sadness that are clear whenever he looks at people (Blake). He sees the faces which are tired and hopeless, and he sees people losing dreams and goals. The people around the speaker are scared, and they even fear to complain about their miserable situation. The speaker hears a cry and sees the blood of a soldier close to the place where the monarch lives. Then, there is description of the night and the way it goes. Unfortunately, it is also very sad because the scared people stay at homes, and only prostitutes remain on the streets. They curse and harass the decent families spreading the negative feelings further around the city.
This poem has a strong and memorable form that includes many repetitions. They make the work sound stronger and also help to stress on the most important ideas the speakers tries to present. Therefore, they are used as reminders of the horrible things the speaker sees in London.
The speaker plays a very important role in the poem because he carries out the author’s feelings about London. He is clearly angry and upset with the city, so the speaker presents these emotions. Through the hero’s eyes, readers get to see the city that is collapsing under its flaws. For example, it is the place where unfree people live. They are afraid to speak up and have no one to defend them. It is a very wrong state of things, and yet, this is the reality of London which is difficult to change. The speaker is clearly dissatisfied with it, but there is very little one can do.
There is an important idea of getting tired in London. The readers feel that the speaker is exhausted from walking around the city not so much because of the physical pain, but the mental one due to the things he has seen. It also symbolizes the person’s weariness over being and seeing things that cannot be changed and upset the individual.
The author uses repetitions in the poem to remind people of the horrors around him, but also to show how difficult it is to think and create in such an environment. The speaker seems to be suffocating because of London, and they also see the dynamics of the speaker’s behavior. Interestingly, although the speaker notices many horrible occurrences in the city as well as comments on the traces of people’s miserable lives there, the poem does not describe or present any actual characters who would prove or disprove the point. It feels like London is some sort of ghost city because the speaker makes conclusions without other people, and it is unclear whether he has actually met anyone while walking around the city. The author uses synecdoche while speaking about the officials and religious leaders; he describes their places of work without presenting real people. This way, he creates an atmosphere of a tiring and miserable city without people. It is a very original approach because thanks to it, the author is able to criticize not particular individuals, but the entire system he dislikes. He sees many flaws in it, so he appeals to it as a whole in hopes that it may be changed. Even if it is not, the author achieves his goal of creating a realistic and melancholic image of London.
Up in the Air Analysis
Up in the Air is the movie that contains a great deal of thought and irony at the same time. The main hero, Ryan Bingham, is the man who has no doubts and obligations. He travels to different places to fire people because their bosses are unable to do this. He also gives motivational speeches for the people. He does not appear attached to anything or anybody and lacks concerns about his future. Ryan has a goal in life which is connected to his travels; he wants to go more than ten million miles via airplanes, and that seems like the only important thing he cares about.
Nevertheless, things begin to change with a new worker, Natalie, coming to his workplace. She suggests not firing people personally, but doing it online, using web cameras and other analogues. Ryan now has to travel with her, so she can learn and understand more about people’s psychology. In the process, it is Ryan who learns so much more about himself. He begins a relationship with a woman without committing to her. However, when he decides that he is ready for something more, he realizes that she is married and views him as an escape from her routine life. He also makes a change in his sister’s life and does some genuine and caring things for her, which is something he did not do before. More importantly, he develops some doubts regarding his future and choices. He realizes that traveling without any attachments is not something he wants to do; thus, he understands that it was wrong to motivate people to do the same. Therefore, he begins to wonder and question his life and remains viewers doing the same. They do not know what is going to happen to Ryan, and they also begin to look at their own lives differently.
The movie has a great deal of irony because Ryan, the man with no doubts who used to motivate people, becomes a doubter himself. It is ironic that after years of inspiring and working with many people, he changed because of a particular set of events. He did not only change, but realized the mistakes he was making. Therefore, Ryan had a true change of heart.
The movie is also ironic when describing Ryan’s job. He is doing the “dirty work” because it is never pleasant to let people go. Nevertheless, it is something that is typical for the modern American society where people would rather pay others, then admit and do difficult tasks themselves. With Natalie quitting because of the consequences of her acts, there is also irony because the person who was supposed to fire people knew nothing about this process.
The movie is very easy and pleasant to watch due to its tone and interesting narrative. The viewers want to learn more about mysterious Ryan, and they expect him to have something he hides from the rest of the world. Then, they begin to sympathize with him and are happy for the character when he finally makes the right decisions. In the end, the viewers are left wanting for more as they want to know the future of Ryan.
This film makes the people rethink and evaluate one’s decisions because it provides an alternative perspective on life. It is powerful in its simplicity, and it carries many important messages regarding the person’s future and consequences of one’s actions.
