A contrast essay about "Spring," by Edna St. Vincent Millay and "The Sick Rose," by William Blake

Essay by zksHigh School, 12th gradeA+, August 2004

download word file, 3 pages 3.7

Downloaded 36 times

The first poem is called, "Spring," by Edna St. Vincent Millay and the second poem is called, "The Sick Rose," by William Blake. The two poems are similar in the way that the personas express their feelings towards life. Beauty, the seasons of life, and the meaning of life are the focuses of both poems.

What is the meaning of life?: a question that has been asked since the beginning of mankind. This question is asked in the beginning of "Spring". The narrator of the poem seems really depressed because of the way she expresses her attitude towards life. In the very beginning of this poem the narrator is asking what the purpose of life is. So from the start this poem seems to be very gloomy. We seem to ask what the meaning of life is more, when we are sad, depressed or maybe something/someone has turned against us; Like in the poem, "The Sick Rose".

In this poem the narrator says, "O Rose, thou art sick! The invisible worm, That flies at night, In the howling storm." In my opinion the narrator is saying that life isn't worth living and we are all like worms in a storm. Basically he/she is saying that life is a very confusing and frustrating place sometimes. In my opinion the deeper meaning is that in reality a worm is so tiny compared to the rest of the world. When the narrator says, "That flies at night," this just emphasizes even more about how small and invisible this worm is. When it is dark outside you can hardly see anything, so it would clearly be impossible to see something invisible. I think that what this poem is trying to portray is, that we as human beings are very tiny compared to...