My Pretty Rose Tree -by William Blake
My Pretty Rose Tree
-by William Blake (1757-1827)
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.
Bengali Translation
আমার সুদর্শনা গোলাপ বৃক্ষ
আমাকে একটা ফুল উপহার দেয়া হলো,
এমন অনন্য, যে কেউ হবেই আসক্ত;
তবু আমি বললাম- ” আমার আছে একটা সুদর্শনা গোলাপ বৃক্ষ, ”
অতঃপর আমি উপেক্ষা করলাম সুভাষিত ফুলের গন্ধ।
তারপর আমি গেলাম আমার মনোরমা গোলাপগাছের কাছে,
রাত্রি নিশি সর্বদা পড়ে রব তার পাশে;
অথচ আমার গোলাপ মুখ ফিরালো ঈর্ষাকাতর চোখে,
কেবল তার দেয়া আঘাত জুটল আমার কপালে।
(a)Answer the following questions:
i) What is the poem about?
ii) What themes are explored in the poem?
iii) What does the rose symbolize in the poem?
(b)How many stanzas are there in the poem?
(c) Write the rhyming words in the following table.
| ————- | tree |
| bore | —————- |
| ————- | tree |
| ————- | delight |
(d) Write the summary/ theme of the poem.
Answer;
(a)
(i) What is the poem about?
Answer: The poem is about a man who is offered a beautiful flower but turns it down because he already has a rose tree. He then tends to his rose tree, but she becomes jealous and only shows him her thorns.
(ii) What themes are explored in the poem?
Answer: The poem explores themes of lost love, possession, jealousy, lack of mutual respect, and selfishness.
(iii) What does the rose symbolize in the poem?
Answer: The rose in the poem is a symbol of the themes explored in the poem.
(b) There are two (2) stanzas in the poem
(c)
| me | tree |
| bore | o’re |
| jealousy | tree |
| night | delight |
(d)
Summary: A man is offered a flower far surpassing the beauty of an ordinary flower, but he turns it down because he already has a pretty rose tree. He then returns to his tree and tends to her every need both day and night, but she only turns away from him in jealousy and shows him the thorns of her own.
Theme: My Pretty Rose Tree by William Blake represents the harshness that “jealousy” can bring to a relationship in that, despite Blake’s commitment to his “rose tree,” that “rose tree” “turned” from him because of his previous encounter with the “flower.” Still, Blake continues to seek the affection of his “rose tree.” What this represents, overall, is that honest love can go punished and hurt if it is paired by a lack of trust, and this brief poem brings this idea into clear focus.