Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 1
O rose thou art sick
- The poem opens with the speaker addressing the rose.
- The speaker tells the rose that it is sick.
Lines 2-4
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm
- The speaker describes an "invisible worm" that flies.
- The worm can also fly when it's raining.
- We don't know what this worm is doing in the poem or even what kind of worm it is. An invisible worm that can fly? Is it some kind of butterfly?