"My Pretty Rose-Tree," written by William Blake, is a poem of love, jealousy, and sorrow. This eight-line poem, following the abab acac rhyme pattern, is full of strong symbolism and a great deal of personification, all used in an attempt to express the narrator's feelings. William Blake brings the flowers alive with the personified characteristics he has given to them. Blake is describing a man who is completely in-love with one women, while at the same time he is being tempted by another. This man's love for his lady at home is so great that he "passed the sweet-flower o'er" (Line 4) and returns home. When he tells his lady of the encounter she leaves him because of extreme jealousy.
             This poem seems like it could be a wonderful love poem with the whole rose/flower theme, but it turns into a sorrowful disaster story leaving all three characters in the poem devastated and alone. Blake's great use of symbolism brings the poem to life. "And her thorns were my only delight" (Line 8). This line fits the poem so perfectly. Such a delicate flower is the rose, but if one is not careful the thorns can break the skin and cause great pain. This describes exactly how the man is feeling in the poem. This man deserves great pity, because he thought he was doing the right thing by rejecting "Such a flower as May never bore;" (Line 2) and then having the love of his life leave him for it. What is a guy supposed to do?
             William Blake's "The Lily" is a great poem of love and beauty. These four lines of poetry are packed full with descriptive symbolisms. Blake is describing how beautiful, pure, and wonderful his Lily is. His comparisons of a rose, a sheep, and a lily are so very interesting. He is saying that a "humble sheep" and a "modest rose" use a "threat'ning horn" or a thorn to hide their true self, while the lily has nothing and wan
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