Single red rose.

Deep and dark,

Blood red.

Named Red Cross.

Heard me recite,

“The Sick Rose”.

Hybrid velvety red.

Marvelled life,

Pleasure’s mine.

Recalled Jung’s Red Book, but

My thoughts speculated,

“Who inspired William Blake?”

 

*Carl G Jung, psychologist and psychiatrist, recorded “exploration of his unconscious and his encounters with the works of many cultural figures” in a book that came to be famously called Jung’s  Red Book. It is said that “the format of the Red Book resembles the work of the British poet and painter William Blake (1757–1827), who also recorded dreams and visions in combined text and images and with whose work Jung had some familiarity.”

The Sick Rose is William Blake’s contribution to the world of literature.

Ref: https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/red-book-of-carl-jung/the-red-book-and-beyond.html

 

Copyright © 2016, Deeya Nayar-Nambiar