A Poison Tree

A Poison Tree-William Blake
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,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
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;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Subject and theme: Wrath (anger) and desire to triumph over enemies; the
dark side of human nature.
Key image: The tree which bears the poisonous fruit.
Technical features:
Simple narrative in form of parable; "wrath" a powerful Biblical term for a deadly
sin;
tree suggests Biblical and mythical narratives;
contrast between treatment of friend and of foe;
repeated use of "And" or "I" to start lines;
rhyme words in second stanza as metaphors of nurturing the desire to harm;
conclusion shows how horrible wrath can be - this is not a literal killing but real
spiritual and psychological harm are done.
Summary
This meditation on the nature of wrath offers two ways of dealing with on an
offence. When the speaker is angry with his friend, he told the friend of it and
his wrath did end. However, when he was angry with his enemy, he kept the
anger hidden, allowing it to grow. His wrath, which is watered in fears and
sunned with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles, grows into the poison tree of
the title. The tree bears an apple bright that the speakers enemy desires; the
greedy enemy takes the fruit, even though he knows it belongs to the speaker,
and eats it. The next morning the speaker is glad to see his foe outstretchd
beneath the tree.
Analysis
"The Poison Tree" consists of four sets of rhyming couplets. Each stanza
continues into the next, giving the poem a hurried, almost furtive tone that
matches the secretive deeds done in darkness of the poem's content.
The obvious moral of this poem is that hidden wrath becomes more dangerous
behind the deceit that hides it from its object. Possibly, the Friend mentioned
in the first stanza is a friend simply because the speaker respects him enough to
voice his anger face to face, whereas the enemy may be a potential friend who
remains an enemy because the speaker keeps his wrath secret and nurtures it.
There is a touch of irony, however, in that the poem ends with the speakers
gladness over his foes death by poison. No final line refutes the secret nurturing
of wrath, and in fact, the poem may be read as a guide for taking vengeance
upon ones enemies.
Some critics suggest that the apple symbolizes Blakes creative work, which
another of his contemporaries may have stolen and used as his own. If so, it
appears the theft of Blakes intellectual property ended badly for the thief (or at
least Blake hopes it will).
From his Songs of Experience, William Blakes A Poison Tree consists of four
quatrains, each with the rime-scheme, AABB.
First Quatrain: I was angry with my friend
In the first quatrain, the speaker explains that he had had a disagreement with
his friend, and he had felt anger toward this friend, but he told his friend
about his feelings and that ended the negative attitude toward the friend.
But then he had a disagreement with another person who was not his friend;
as a matter of fact, this person was his foe, his enemy. No doubt, because he
and his foe were not close enough to have a heart-to-heart discussion, the
speaker did not tell his enemy of his anger. Because he did not talk out his
wrath with the enemy, the wrath did grow.
Second Quatrain: And I watered it in fears
In the second quatrain, the speaker merely tries to elucidate how his wrath
toward the enemy grew: he watered it with fears and tears, he covered it up
in smiles and wiles.
Third Quatrain: And it grew both day and night

The third quatrain emphasizes how consumed the speaker became with his
growing hatred of his foe. The speaker dramatizes his anger by metaphorically
growing it into a poison tree that sprouts a bright, shiny poison apple. His foe
sees this apple and knows that it belongs to the speaker; although, the poor
foe does not realize that the apple is poison. Exactly what this apple is in
nature is unclear: it may be the speakers smile or general behavior toward the
foe.
Fourth Quatrain: And into my garden stole

Finally, the foe steals into the speakers garden, apparently eats the poison
apple, and in the morning, the speaker discovers the foe dead beneath his
tree. The speaker is glad to find the foe dead. But how exactly did he kill the
foe?
Stanza 1
William Blake speaks of someone, his friend and his foe, whom has he is angry
with. When he says I told my wrath, my wrath did end after he said he was angry
with his friend, he is saying he was able to get over being angry with his friend and
forgot about it. Although, it is quite the opposite when he mentions I told it not,
and my wrath did grow. Blake is saying that with his enemy, he allowed himself to
get angry, and therefore, his wrath did grow.
Stanza 2
In this stanza, Blake begins to make his anger grow and he takes pleasure in it,
comparing his anger with something, in this case, a tree or plant. The speaker says
he sunned it with smiles and and with soft, deceitful wiles. This means he is
creating an illusion with his enemy saying he is pretending to be friendly to seduce
and bring him closer.
Stanza 3
And it grew both day and night and til it bore an apple bright are meaning that
his illusion with his enemy is growing and growing until it became a strong and
tempting thing. His illusion has a metaphor and it is an apple. After, his foe
believes it shines, which means he thinks its true and means something, and takes
Blake illusion seriously. And he knew it was mine suggests that he really thinks
Blake is his friend.
Stanza 4
Being the last stanza, Blake needed to come up with a conclusion. He has used the
two lines in the morning glad I see and my foe outstretched beneath the tree to
say that his foe finally fell to his tempting illusion and metaphorically, consumed
his poison apple and died. So, obviously, his malicious intentions were hidden
behind illusion and he prevailed over his enemy.

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A Poison Tree-William Blake

Third Quatrain: And it grew both day and night

Fourth Quatrain: And into my garden stole

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