A Poison Tree : Summary and analysis

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Poem: A Poison Tree

By William Blake

TEXT:

Stanza 1:

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.

Stanza 2:

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

Stanza 3: 

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,—

Stanza 4: 

And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Summary:

Stanza 1:
The speaker talks about anger. When he was angry with his friend, he expressed it, and the anger disappeared. But when he was angry with his enemy, he kept it inside. This hidden anger started to grow.

Stanza 2:
The speaker secretly nurtured this anger. He fed it with fears and tears, showing emotional pain and anxiety. He also used smiles and tricks to hide his real feelings, which made the anger stronger, like watering and feeding a tree.

Stanza 3:
The anger, like a plant, grew day and night, and eventually produced a bright apple — a symbol of temptation and revenge. His enemy saw the apple and recognized it belonged to the speaker.

Stanza 4:
The enemy sneaks into the speaker’s garden at night to take the apple. In the morning, the speaker sees his enemy lying dead under the tree. The hidden anger led to destruction and death.

Analysis:

Theme:

  • Anger and its consequences: The poem warns that unexpressed anger can grow into something destructive. When anger is discussed and resolved, it fades; when hidden, it becomes poisonous.
  • Deception and revenge: The speaker pretends to be friendly, hiding his anger. This deceit leads to revenge.
  • The nature of evil: Blake explores how evil grows quietly inside people, nurtured by fear and lies.

Symbolism:

  • Tree: Symbolizes the growing anger.
  • Apple: Symbol of temptation, like in the story of Adam and Eve. It represents the result of anger — something that looks attractive but is deadly.
  • Garden: Symbol of the mind or heart where emotions grow.
  • Night: Symbolizes secrecy and evil actions.

Tone:

  • Calm but sinister. The speaker is controlled in tone but reveals deep resentment and satisfaction at his enemy’s death.
  • The simple rhyme (AABB) adds to the deceptive simplicity — the language is childlike, but the meaning is dark and mature.

Moral / Message:

  • Suppressing negative emotions without resolution leads to worse outcomes.
  • Expressing emotions openly can bring peace.
  • Hiding hatred behind fake kindness is dangerous for both the hater and the hated.


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