Get out the microscope, because we’re going through this poem line-by-line.
Lines 5-6
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
- The speaker tells us more about the worm; it has found the rose's bed.
- The status of this "bed" is ambiguous. It could be just a place where the rose sleeps that happens to be "crimson."
- It could also be a "bed" of something, like a "bed of roses" (not unlikely since the poem is called "The Sick Rose") or something else that's red. This would make the rose a gardener of some kind.
Lines 7-8
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.
- The speaker tells us that the worm's "love" kills the rose.
- It's strange that "love" is killing something here, since we usually associate love with life.
- "Dark secret love" could mean three things. It could mean the worm's love, as in "My love for you will never die."
- It could also refer to something that the worm loves, as in, "Hello, my love, I'm home."
- It might even refer to the act of making love, or sex.