O Rose, thou art sick

O Rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night,
In the howling storm,

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

by William Blake (1757-1827) , "The sick rose", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 9, published 1794

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Samuel Hans Adler (1928-) , "The sick rose", published 1974 [mixed chorus and band], from Serenade, no. 3.
by George Antheil (1900-1959) , "The sick rose", 1948, from Songs of Experience, no. 4.
by Gary Bachlund , "The sick rose", 1990 [medium high voice and piano], from Three Blake Settings, no. 1.
by Gilbert Biberian (1944-) , "The sick rose", 1967.
by Carey Blyton (1932-2002) , "The sick rose", 1956, from Lachrymae - In Memoriam John Dowland, no. ?
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "The sick rose", 1957-80, from Songs of Innocence and of Experience.
by William Bolcom (1938-) , "The sick rose", 1956-81 [soloists, madrigal group, chorus, orchestra], from Songs of Experience, Volume One, no. 16.
by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) , "Elegy", op. 31 no. 3 (1943) [tenor, horn, and strings or piano], from Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, no. 3.
by Mervyn Burtch (1929-) , "The sick rose", 1960.
by Geoffrey Bush (1920-1998) , "O rose, thou art sick", from A Summer Serenade, no. ?
by Alice Upton Close , "The sick rose", published c1934. [voice, piano]
by John H. Corina (1928-) , "The sick rose", 1976, from From Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. ?
by Edgar Martin Deale (1902-1999) , "The sick rose", 1961, from Five Poets -- Seven Songs, no. ?
by David Andross Farquhar (1928-) , "The sick rose", 1948.
by Donato D. Fornuto (1931-) , "The sick rose", published 1973, from Songs of Innocence and Experience, no. ?
by Inglis Gundry (1905-2000) , "The sick rose", 1950, from Four Songs of Experience, no. ?
by David Haines (1956-) , "The sick rose", 1972-9, rev. 1984, first performed 1979 [high voice and piano], from Songs of Experience, no. 3.
by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874-1949) , "The sick rose", op. 25 (Seven songs) no. 1 (1917). [voice and piano]
by Eugene Hartzell (1932-2000) , "The sick rose", 1969 [medium voice and orchestra], from Spring and Three Flowers, no. 3.
by Sidney Homer (1864-1953) , "The sick rose", op. 26 (Two "Songs of Experience") no. 1, published 1913.
by Daniel Jenkyn Jones (1912-) , "O rose, thou art sick", 1977, first performed 1977 [SATB chorus and orchestra], from Hear the Voice of the Ancient Bard, no. 2.
by Dorian Le Gallienne (1915-1963) , "O Rose, thou art sick", 1956. [SSATB chorus a cappella]
by René Leibowitz (1913-1972) , "The sick rose", 1966.
by René Leibowitz (1913-1972) , "The sick rose", op. 71 no. 1 (1966), published c1976 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Two Settings after Poems by William Blake, no. 1, Hillsdale, NY, Boelke-Bomart, also set in French
by Ruth Margaret Lomon (1930-) , "The sick rose", published 1980.
by Wilfrid Howard Mellers (1914-) , "The sick rose", 1978, from Rosae Hermeticae.
by David S. Miall (1947-) , "The sick rose", 1971.
by Michael Richard Miller (1932-) , "The sick rose", 1965, from Blake's Garden.
by Michael Nyman (1944-) , no title, 1986 [musical intermezzo], from the opera The Man who mistook his wife for a hat
by Nick Peros , "The sick rose"
by Brent Pierce , "The sick rose", published 1974.
by George Rochberg (1918-) , "The sick rose", published 1963, from Blake Songs, no. ?
by Gerard Schürmann (1928-) , "The sick rose", 1956, published 1996-7, from Six Songs of William Blake, no. 5.
by Leif Segerstam (1944-) , "The sick rose", 1970-1, from Six Songs of Experience, no. ?
by David Ferguson Shaw (1926-) , "Rose, thou art sick", 1967, from Lux fulgebit.
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "The sick rose", op. 132 no. 8 (2001) [speaker and tape], from The Innocence of Experience, no. 8.
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "The sick rose", op. 32 no. 5, published 1981, rev. 2003, first performed 1986 [voice and organ], from Fearful symmetry, no. 5.
by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "The sick rose", op. 32a no. 5, published 1981, rev. 2003, first performed 1986 [voice and piano], from Fearful symmetry, no. 5.
by Christopher Steel (1939-) , "The sick rose", published 1967.
by Lester Trimble (1923-) , "The sick rose", published 1969, from Petit Concert, no. ?
by Gerard Victory (1921-) , "The sick rose", 1978, from Songs of Experience, no. ?
by Carl Paul Vollrath (1931-) , "The sick rose", 1963, from Five Short Songs by William Blake, no. ?
by Rudolph Werther (1896-?) , "O rose, thou art sick", from Book of Religious Songs.
by Raymond Wilding-White (1922-) , "The sick rose", published 1972.
by Richard Willis (1929-) , "The sick rose", published 1972.
by Philip Winsor , "The sick rose", 1960.

by René Leibowitz (1913-1972) , "Rose qui se meurt", op. 71 no. 1 (1966), published c1976 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Two Settings after Poems by William Blake, no. 1, Hillsdale, NY, Boelke-Bomart, also set in English

by René Leibowitz (1913-1972) , "Jamais, verité d'amour", op. 71 no. 2 (1966), published c1976 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Two Settings after Poems by William Blake, no. 2, Hillsdale, NY, Boelke-Bomart, also set in English

NYN Norwegian (Nynorsk) (Are Frode Søholt)
RUS Russian [singable] (Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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Bol'naja roza

O Roza, skvoz' mrak
V neprochnyj tvoj dom
Nevidimka-chervjak
Prokralsja tajkom,

Na lozhe struju
On krovavuju l'jot
I pogibel' tvoju
On ljubov'ju zovjot.

Show Cyrillic (Покажите текст в кириллице)
Note on Transliteration

Singable translation by Dmitri Nikolaevich Smirnov (1948-) , "Bol'naja roza", copyright ©, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

a text in English by William Blake (1757-1827) , "The sick rose", from Songs of Innocence and Experience, in Songs of Experience, no. 9, published 1794 NYN

Date added to the website: 2008-01-17.