Use Of Love And Religious Devotion In William Blake's My Pretty Rose Tree

Love and Religious Devotion in William Blake’s “My Pretty Rose Tree”

“My Pretty Rose Tree” by William Blake

A flower was offered to me;

Such a flower as May never bore,

But I said, “I’ve a Pretty Rose-tree,”

And I passed the sweet flower o’er.

Then I went to my Pretty Rose-tree,

To tend her by day and by night.

But my Rose turned away with jealousy,And her thorns were my only delight.

Initially, William Blake’s “My Pretty Rose Tree” reads as uncomplicated verse, but in reality the poem operates on many levels. Close examination of Blake’s use of objects, familiar yet profoundly symbolic, thwarts expectations of light romance. Superficially the poem speaks of flowers, love, and jealousy but beneath the surface lurk deeper messages of rejection, resistance to change, and faith.

On the surface, the poem is about a pretty flower being offered to one who passes it over in favor of the rose tree he already has. He tends the rose tree by night and day, but is rewarded only with thorns. The repetition of flower in the first stanza points to its importance as a symbol; operating on many layers, the flower can represent love, experiences, and faith. Because Blake uses flower, not rose, something new

Like the fruit of knowledge in the story of Adam and Eve, the flower is appealing; unlike the Edenic fruit, however, the flower is rejected despite its tempting description. Rejecting the experience keeps the speaker in the same garden with his rose tree or in the same state as before. No growth is possible without experience. A safe haven becomes stale without the benefit of diverse experiences to enliven it. Lavishing care in maintenance instead of growth, he ends up with thorns being his only delight; he must embrace his harvest since he was the one who rejected growth. Indeed, for the speaker, the pain of the thorns may be infinitely preferable to his fear of the