---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: O Rose, thou art sick. The invisible worm…"
description: "\"“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 ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/william-blake-397_art_o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm_494882.jpg"
---

#  O Rose, thou art sick. The invisible worm That flies in…

![“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.” quote by William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/william-blake-397_art_o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm_494882.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/william-blake-397_art_o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm_494882.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/william-blake-397_art_o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm_494882.jpg)

> ““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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A rose symbolizes love; a worm represents hidden decay that corrupts and destroys the beloved.

**In simple terms:** Hidden decay destroys love.

Key Takeaway

Beware unseen threats to love.

Themes

love decay vulnerability nature

Mood

melancholic reflective

Type

poetic literary

When to use this quote

- relationships
- health
- environmental decay

Key Concepts

symbolism corruption fragility

Questions to Reflect On

- What unseen forces harm your relationships?
- How can you protect love?

A Different Perspective

Love can be fragile and hidden.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Corruption](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corruption/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Flowers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flowers/) [Innocence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence/) [Innocence-lost](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/innocence-lost/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) [Secret love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/secret-love/) [Seduction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/seduction/) [Sickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sickness/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/)

## Related quotes

> [The Sick Rose O Rose, thou art sick. The invisible worm That flies in the night In the howling storm Has found out thy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-sick-rose-o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm-that-flies-in/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [“His voice was that kind you get from smoking three packs a day and then spending all night howling at the moon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-w-storch/his-voice-was-that-kind-you-get-from-smoking-three-packs-a-day-and/)

E.W. Storch

> [Rose! Thou art the sweetest flower that ever drank the amber shower: Even the Gods, who walk the sky, are amourous of thy scented…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-more/rose-thou-art-the-sweetest-flower-that-ever-drank-the-amber-shower/)

[Thomas More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-more/)

> [The cut worm forgives the plow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-cut-worm-forgives-the-plow/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [“Why we as a nation worship youth so much is because we confuse it with innocence. We long for the irresponsibility of not knowing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerda-charles/why-we-as-a-nation-worship-youth-so-much-is-because-we-confuse-it/)

Gerda Charles

> [“I knelt and locked the door. I locked the door locking the world and time outside. I stretched my body across the mattress and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/i-knelt-and-locked-the-door-i-locked-the-door-locking-the-world-and/)

[Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/)

> [“The price of this story was the audience's innocence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-rob-smith/the-price-of-this-story-was-the-audience-s-innocence/)

[Tom Rob Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-rob-smith/)

> [“I could bring the difficult childhood card but that would be a lie because I had the most decent example of a good childhood.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lunga-no-lia-izata/i-could-bring-the-difficult-childhood-card-but-that-would-be-a-lie/)

[Lunga Noélia Izata](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lunga-no-lia-izata/)

> [“Innocent like the first dreams A few words dropped on the paper; Contaminated they were by the surrounding air, Fame swarmed, naivety disappeared!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neelam-saxena-chandra/innocent-like-the-first-dreams-a-few-words-dropped-on-the-paper/)

[Neelam Saxena Chandra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neelam-saxena-chandra/)

> [“I wanted to shout down to him, to warn him that he was giving flowers to a monster, but I did not.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/i-wanted-to-shout-down-to-him-to-warn-him-that-he-was-giving-flowers/)

[Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/)

> [“In the 1950s kids lost their innocence. They were liberated from their parents by well-paying jobs, cars, and lyrics in music that gave rise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/in-the-1950s-kids-lost-their-innocence-they-were-liberated-from-their/)

[Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/)

> [“Innocence crafts its own demise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-t-mckinstry/innocence-crafts-its-own-demise/)

[F.T. McKinstry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-t-mckinstry/)

> [“Innocence could be lost more than once after all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/selena-kitt/innocence-could-be-lost-more-than-once-after-all/)

[Selena Kitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/selena-kitt/)

> [“Never had we ever kissed as lovers; if we touched lips it was as brother and sister. In one moment of emotion, our lips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roman-payne/never-had-we-ever-kissed-as-lovers-if-we-touched-lips-it-was-as/)

[Roman Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roman-payne/)

> [“He had always tried to treat Havaa as a child and she always went along with it, as though childhood and innocence were fantastical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-marra/he-had-always-tried-to-treat-havaa-as-a-child-and-she-always-went/)

[Anthony Marra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-marra/)

## More by William Blake

> [Poetry fettered, fetters the human race. Nations are destroyed or flourish in proportion as their poetry, painting, and music are destroyed or flourish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/poetry-fettered-fetters-the-human-race-nations-are-destroyed-or/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [Where any view of money exists, art cannot be carried on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/where-any-view-of-money-exists-art-cannot-be-carried-on/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [God only acts and is, in existing beings or men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/god-only-acts-and-is-in-existing-beings-or-men/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [Kill not the moth nor butterfly, For the Last Judgement draweth nigh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/kill-not-the-moth-nor-butterfly-for-the-last-judgement-draweth-nigh/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [The world of imagination is the world of eternity. It is the divine bosom into which we shall all go after death of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-world-of-imagination-is-the-world-of-eternity-it-is-the-divine/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/imagination-is-the-real-and-eternal-world-of-which-this-vegetable/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [Painters are noted for being dissipated and wild.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/painters-are-noted-for-being-dissipated-and-wild/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [Time is the mercy of Eternity; without Time's swiftness Which is the swiftest of all things, all were eternal torment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/time-is-the-mercy-of-eternity-without-time-s-swiftness-which-is-the/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [The difference between a bad artist and a good one is: the bad artist seems to copy a great deal; the good one really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-difference-between-a-bad-artist-and-a-good-one-is-the-bad-artist/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [Cruelty has a human heart, and jealousy a human face. Terror, the human form divine, And secrecy, the human dress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/cruelty-has-a-human-heart-and-jealousy-a-human-face-terror-the-human/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [A dead body revenges not injuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/a-dead-body-revenges-not-injuries/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [Those who restrain desire, do so because theirs is weak enough to be restrained; and the restrainer or reason usurps its place &amp; governs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/those-who-restrain-desire-do-so-because-theirs-is-weak-enough-to-be/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [To generalize is to be an idiot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/to-generalize-is-to-be-an-idiot/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [THE POISON TREE I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-poison-tree-i-was-angry-with-my-friend-i-told-my-wrath-my-wrath/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

> [The bird a nest the spider a web the human friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/the-bird-a-nest-the-spider-a-web-the-human-friendship/)

[William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

[Explore all 592 William Blake quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/)

## More Art quotes

> [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/)

[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/)

> [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/)

[Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/)

> [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/)

[Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/)

> [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/)

[Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/)

> [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/)

[Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/)

> [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/)

[Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/)

> [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/)

Taf Teh

> [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/)

[Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/)

> [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/)

[Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/)

> [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/)

[Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/)

> [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/)

[G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/)

> [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/)

[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/)

> [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/)

[Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/)

> [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/)

[Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/)

[Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“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.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "William Blake"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm-that-flies-in-the-night-in/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Art"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm-that-flies-in-the-night-in/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/william-blake-397_art_o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm_494882.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/william-blake-397_art_o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm_494882.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bd5/william-blake-397_art_o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm_494882.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“O Rose, thou art sick. The invisible worm That flies in the night In the howling storm Has found out thy bed…” — William Blake",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "William Blake",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“O Rose, thou art sick. The...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm-that-flies-in-the-night-in/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/o-rose-thou-art-sick-the-invisible-worm-that-flies-in-the-night-in/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
