William Blake "A Poison Tree"

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend:

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe:

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,                               5

Night and morning with my tears;

And I sunnèd it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night

Till it bore an apple bright;                              10

And my foe beheld it shine,

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole

When the night had veiled the pole:

In the morning glad I see                                15

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Title:   Poison reveals death, evil; it is usually given to someone in order to kill them. Tree reveals growth, nurture, or a picture of decay. Evil is being harvested on a tree.

Paraphrase:    I was angry with my friend but when I told him my anger ended. Yet when I was angry with my enemy, I held it in and my grudge grew. I watered it with fears and anguish while my cunning façade provided the tree with sun. My anger grew until it produced an offspring that my enemy became jealous of. My enemy came into the garden during the blackness of the night and plucked off the apple that killed him to my delight.

Devices:          Cadence-musical, euphonious

Couplet-enhances the flow of the poem, each couplet contrasts the idea of the previous couplet

                        Euphemism-“foe outstretched beneath the tree” is a lighter way of revealing the death of the enemy.

                        Foreshadowing-“and he knew that it was mine”; from our human nature the audience can derive that the enemy will steal the apple which has already been displayed as poisonous; the line “night had veiled the pole” intensifies the darkness and evil nature of the situation.

                        Imagery-the bearing of fruit through providing nutrients, parallels the concept of a grudge being fed

                        Allusion-the apple alludes to the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Knowledge which was eaten and led to the fall of man; from that the evil nature of mankind prospered, also apples appear in Milton’s Paradise Lost.

                        Symbolism- an apple typically refers to the desire and temptations of humans

Attitude:          hurt, pain, hatred, frustration, jealousy

                                    revealed through words like “deceitful” “wrath” “fears” “tears”

Shifts:              There is a shift after each couplet. The first shows the familiarity with friends and the ability to forgive. The second portrays the frustration that grows when it is towards an enemy. The third and fourth couplets are used to display the ways in which the tree of emotions is provided with nutrients. The fifth reveals how a grudge, when concealed within, grows rapidly. The sixth helps the audience to understand the jealous nature of humans through the foe’s desire of the apple. The seventh couplet helps portray the evil shadows that lurk over humans, and finally the last couplet reveals the innate nature of humans and their self-centered lifestyle because there is no remorse for the death of his foe.

Title:               This tree revolves around one person’s emotions and because poison is used to describe this specific tree Blake reveals the hatred that mankind is able to produce.

Theme/Total Meaning:           Because this poem does not have evidence of remorse the poem does not paint a lesson of releasing anger (although people will come to that conclusion by themselves). Blake wrote this poem to reveal the deep truth about human’s and the ability to harbor wrath and fester desires to an incredible extent. Also, because he has a dark atmosphere around the death of the foe, he reveals the mystery of evil and how it influences humans.