Sexual desire

• The Blossom - 'A happy blossom/ Sees you as swift as arrow/ Seek your cradle narrow/ Near my bosom

  • arrow = phallic symbol - masculine energy
  • presented as an instinctive natural connection between 2 entities - they are natural and uncorrupted
  • sense of sex being nurturing - desire is not aggressive or destructive - not sinful
• The Blossom 'Pretty, pretty robin,/ Under leaves so green'

  • sexual desire exists in harmony with nature rather than corrupting it
  • images of birds reflect instinct & freedom showing desire is an essential part of existence with should be experienced with joy, not guilt - should follow instincts without fear/ shame
  • the blossom is not crushed or withered by the interaction, instead it watches with happiness - love & sexuality are part of life's natural rhythm, not something to be repressed
  • humans should embrace their feelings rather than suppress them - if birds & flowers can express themselves freely without harm so too should people
  • love in its purest form , is meant to be celebrated, not feared
• The Sick Rose - 'O Rose, thou art sick'

  • rose traditionally symbolises love, beauty, female sexuality, but here it is corrupted & diseased
  • sexual desire presented as something that has been infected or made unnatural
  • sickness reflects how church teaches that sexual desire is sinful unless contained within strict moral bounds - natural desire associated with guilt & source of moral sickness
  • complying with church's teachings - which views sexuality as corrupting, shameful & needing control - results in internalisation of shame, emotional suppression & spiritual decay
  • denying or demonising desire doesn’t purify the soul, but instead poisons it
• The Sick rose - 'The invisible worm,/ That flies in the night'

  • worm = phallic imagery, symbolising male sexual desire - but presented as secretive, invasive & corrupting
  • invisibility & association with night reinforces how sexuality is shrouded in secrecy & shame & should be suppressed rather than accepted
  • when male sexuality repressed it is forced underground, emerging in distorted, harmful ways - rather than being expressed openly, desires become predatory, infecting & destroying
  • shame doesn't erase desire, it just twists it, leading to emotional & even physical harm
  • doesn't critique desire itself, but the religious attitudes that turn it into something destructive
• The Sick Rose - 'Has found out thy bed/ Of crimson joy'

  • desire is both beautiful & damaging
  • sexual encounter where joy is tainted - rose not empowered by desire but has been invaded or destroyed
  • when natural desire is denied it turns to shame, disease & destruction
  • without freedom & honesty, desire comes something toxic
• My Pretty Rose Tree - ‘But I said, ‘I’ve a pretty rose tree,/ And I passed the sweet flower o’er’

  • Flower symbolises natural, spontaneous sexual desire - something joyful, free & non-possessive - the narrator represses this desire out of loyalty to rose tree, representing institutionalised love shaped by church’s teachings on monogamy & marital duty  
  • Rejection shows how religious morality policies sexuality, turning desire into a source of guilt, punishment & emotional suffering 
  • Institutional relationships distort true intimacy, preventing genuine emotional & sexual fulfilment
• Lily - ‘The lily white shall in love delight’ ‘nor a thorn nor a threat stain her beauty bright’ 

  • Lily has no defences - unlike rose in my pretty rose tree, which harms with ‘thorns’ out of jealousy & possessiveness, the lily has no weapons or barriers, it is entirely open, gentle & vulnerable
  • Lily is inspiration to us all to recapture ethos of eden & feel the pure delight promised by Blake - we need to be entirely honest, open & accepting of ourselves & others 
  • Sexual desire is not corruption or shameful force as preached by church, but a pure & innocent aspect of the whole human experience 
• A Little Girl Lost - 'Parents were adar;/ Strangers came not near;/ And the maiden soon forgot her fear'

  • in absence of authority figures, Ona able to experience all emotions of affection freely
  • society causes them to fear affection & true love - without presence of adults to enforce judgement or repression, Lyca is liberated from internalised fear & can live without shame
  • true affection & emotional expression are natural, and it is only the fear of social condemnation that turns them into something shameful - when children allowed to feel & explore freely, like Ona here, they can live with the same openness & vulnerability as the lily - pure, unguarded & unafraid