William Blakes A Poison Tree: Critique and Appraisal

This poem is about dealing with anger with a friend or enemy. He waters the tree with fears
and tears every day and night. Then one day the tree grows a apple. His friend went to the
garden he ate the apple and dies.
| Posted on 2015-11-23 | by a guest

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Well when I first read it I clearly thought that he was actually glad with the outcome of his
anger....he doesn t express any remorse or guilt...
| Posted on 2014-06-08 | by a guest

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Blake describes the inner feelings of every mens in a very clearly style. every one must share
his anger with someone in this way one gets relaxation and forgive his enemy.
| Posted on 2014-05-28 | by a guest

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The poem is structured in four quatrains of couplets. The theme uses the garden, the tree and
apple as metaphors that alludes to the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and the tree of
knowledge with its forbidden apple. So Adam is the friend and Eve is the foe, which makes
the speaker the serpent. So the theme would be Biblical about temptation and not having sex
until you are married or else you will lose your soul to the devil who hates you and hides
behind deceitful smiles.
| Posted on 2013-02-26 | by a guest

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I like this poem very much.It says the truth.Even my . experienced it.I also think even the
author had had a experinced it.I too have a quote\"During exams,best friends and sleep are
same.They always distrub us .
| Posted on 2012-09-11 | by a guest

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This is one of the wonderful of william Blake.In this poem he says about the true friendship
between two normal persons.If you find any mistake in your friend say to him and change
him immediately.
| Posted on 2012-08-08 | by a guest

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Heather Rochelle Cook
7th April 2012
The Poison Tree
William Blake uses a very distinct tone in this poem. It is one of maliciousness and bitterness.
Blake uses an, (a a, b b) rhyme scheme in this poem that also ends with a rhyming couplet. In
stanza one, Blake is showing the audience how different one might act towards ones friend
and how they may use a different course of action when referring to one of their foes.
He can talk to his friend about his wrath but has a harder time telling his foe. In stanza
two, Blake is referring maybe to a tree that grows as he watered it with fearssunned it
with smiles and soft deceitful wiles. He is stating there that his enemy might not even
know he is being tricked by the speaker, causing his foe to get closer. This to me is what the
quote, Keep your friends close, and keep your enemies closer means. With that being
said, I believe this is the cause of Blakes deviousness. He wants his foe to fall in his trap.
And it grew both day and night, is simply saying that the longer that you hold in your
hurts or true feelings, the stronger they might grow inside of you, until you finally burst. He
shows this in line ten by using an apple sprouting from the tree, till it bore an apple
bright. Finally, the speakers plan has worked. His foe took the apple like he had hoped,
and because the tree was nourished around nothing but hate and anger surrounding its
environment, it sprouts a bad apple. In this poem the bad apple is a poisoned apple,
and in result kills the speakers enemy. This can very easily relate to two life lessons that
come to my mind. If you build up your emotions to the point where they explode, the
explosion itself might remain harmed forever. I can also simply compare this to the average
everyday life. If you are a growing adolescent in a traumatized or stressful household
while learning to grow, things like temper, hate or everyday usages in your household can
adapt inside of you and has a lot to do with the person you grow up to be. Blake planted a bad
seed and basically grew it throughout the hardships of an enemy, and therefore the tree grew
into, A Poison Tree. In reality, the way that we are nourished during early childhood can
someday definitely bring out our true demeanors.
| Posted on 2012-05-29 | by a guest

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Over the course of the poem, anger is developed as a poisoned tree. In the first three stanzas,
the metaphor of anger as a tree is developed using imagery that is suggestive of trees. In these
stanzas, the development of anger from a seed to a tree is shown as it grows, it is watered and
sunned, or nurtured and allowed to thrive, and eventually bears fruit, an apple bright.

Consonance is used in one instance to control the tone and mood of the events in the poem. In
lines seven and eight, the soft s sound is repeated, giving the lines a softer and more
deceitful and cunning tone. Allusions are also apparent in the third and fourth stanza when the
tree bears an apple which the foe beholds, and when the enemy steals into the garden. This
allusion to the Garden of Eden is used to bring the poem into a more biblical realm, which is
typical of Blakes work.
In the first stanza, the consequence of allowing anger to continue instead of stopping it as it
begins is shown. This consequence is simply that it will continue to grow. However, as the
poem progresses, it is seen that this continued growth of anger can yield harmful results as
the enemy, or foe, is lured toward the tree and eats of its fruit, the poison apple. This kills his
foe, as he is seen outstretched beneath the tree, a sight the speaker is glad to see the next
morning. These final two lines explain one of the main themes of the poem, which is that
anger leads to self destruction. The speakers anger grows and eventually becomes so
powerful that it has changes from simple anger with another person, to desire to see them
dead. One of the subjects of Blakes work was the underworld, or Hell, and knowing this, it
can be seen that the destruction which results from anger is not physical, but spiritual. In
addition, the death of the foe, which the speaker is glad to see, does not spiritually affect the
foe as the speaker is affected, but only physically harms the foe.
| Posted on 2012-03-29 | by a guest

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us too we are doing the same poem owesome isnt it so we r not the only ones who study
poetry coool
| Posted on 2012-01-23 | by a guest

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we are studying this poets poems i hate oems but ms yolanda makes them stand out and
become better and understood any ways still hate poems sufaring with this unit 3 poems a day
to analyse soo much work
| Posted on 2012-01-23 | by a guest

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the poem can be very confusing but the main idea of it is the negetive emotions that are
portrayed that untimatly lead to death.
| Posted on 2011-11-24 | by a guest

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I think that this poem very cleary describes someones anger against his or hers enmey. what
basically happens is that he or her gets really angry at his or her foe and soon before you
know it he or her has already started growing a tree and soon feed it to his or her foe. The
person feeds this tree with fears waters it with tears and sinned it with evil smiles. Willam
Blake has done very well in describng anger in a different kind of way. So well done and
have funnnn.
| Posted on 2011-11-22 | by a guest

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This poem is not about the consequences of bottling up your anger instead of expressing it
openly. It is about the mutually destructive consequences of being self-indulgent enough to
classify some people as your enemies. It is a vindication of \"love your enemies\".
It is because you have enemies that you cannot speak as frankly as you can with friends, in
case your words are misinterpreted and resented. As a result your anger is more likely to
fester. That is the theme of the first stanza.
At the end of the second stanza this policy of dissimulation takes an ugly turn. The affected
smiles have been reinforced with \"soft deceitful wiles\". In the third stanza this develops into
deliberate entrapment. The enemy is enticed by a tempting fruit with a poisonous core, just as
Eve was lured by the serpent in the garden of Eden.
In the final stanza, the enemy takes the bait, and it ultimately (\"in the morning\") leads to his
doom (\"outstretched beneath the tree\"). The actual nature of the trap is not explained and
not important. It might be a compromising relationship, or it might be exposure for actual
theft. What is important is the first party\'s reaction. He is \"glad\".
In other words, the first party has himself been corrupted. His anger has evolved into rancour,
his self-pity into self-righteousness, his speechlessness into gloating, his innocence into guilt.
In short, he has imperilled his immortal soul. He has destroyed not only his enemy, but
himself.
| Posted on 2011-08-29 | by a guest

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I think the theme of the poem is that one must be honest with onself and with others.
| Posted on 2011-07-28 | by a guest

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i think it means allot of things but the poem tells us how this guy is keeping his anger insid
him and not letting it out, this is the same as nurturing it.Eventually the hatred grows into a
poison tree with an apple and when the foe thinks he is at his weakest he takes the apple

which kills him.So I think the best thing to do is just tell the person they are hurting you or
making you angry which would be better than holding a grudge against someone because it
only leads to bad things:D xxx
| Posted on 2011-05-26 | by a guest

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the main theme of this poetry is being positive and control your anger
| Posted on 2011-05-17 | by a guest

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Isn\'t there also a reference to the Bible, particularly to the part where Eva eates the apple?
And isn\'t the tree a symbol for the sins of men, to continue with the biblical references? This
might look like a simple poem, but there is still much more in this than you might think.
(sorry for my bad English, I am no Englishman)
| Posted on 2011-04-29 | by a guest

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William Blake has not only succesfully created imagery using an appropriate choice of
words, he has also portrayed some kind of neglegence and hatred, this is mainly shown
through the main meaning of the poem, if you do not forgive and forget your anger will grow
like a tree until it grows into a death wish for your foe (poison apple), \"In the morning glad I
see,
My foe outstretchd beneath the tree.\"
William Blake has also shown that be they friend or foe, harboring a grudge only makes
things worse. Imagery was portrayed and has connected with the reader by discussing the
deep feeling of a victory over an enemy. He states that the only way, at the time, to releive
that pain is by hurting someone else. (physically or phychiatricly) Many lines have the same
basic meaning. One of these shows his anger growing whilst keeping his anger bottled up
inside him. \"I was angry with my foe, I told not, My wrath did grow\" Throughout this
Poem, Willliam Blake has discussed a situation where a person has had a foe, he has
portrayed the \'foe\' as some sort of bully obviously he has been bullied by the same perosn
for a long time.
Not only has William Blake portrayed the wrath inside of this person growing on a tree, he
has shown that by adding a apple on the poison tree this makes the reader beleive that the boy
has made some kind of lure for the bully, for when he is at his weakest, the boy will get his
sweet revenge. \"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.\"
Whilst the mood of this poem had been somewhat soppy and sad at the start, like he was
weeping and scared, \"And I waterd it in fears,

Night & morning with my tears\" this mood dramatically changes towards the end of the
poem where it becomes quite abupt and almost rude with anger.
| Posted on 2011-03-29 | by a guest

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I had a foe, someone who meant me harm,
I didn\'t talk to him about it because I feared him, I didn\'t trust him, what if he hits me, tells
lies about me, turns my friends against me...?
I cried because i didn\'t know what to do. i felt humiliated, after all I\'m a good person. Who
does he think he is?
So the tree of fear and frustration grew and became twisted and poisoned with thoughts of
revenge. I smiled happily as i thought of revenge. I told myself it was best for everyone if he
was taught a lesson,there was nothing else i could do,(sunned it with smiles and soft deceitful
wiles)
My vengeful plot was to lure my foe. When he thought I was at my weakest, most vulnerable
he stepped on my turf and the trap was sprung. It\'s a new day. I fear him no more.
Anger feels better than fear, revenge feels better than anger. Keep reaching for a better
feeling.
| Posted on 2011-03-19 | by a guest

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the mans anger is deceiving, it may look pleasant at first but over time it becomes more
deadly, love thy neighbor and enemy is the theme
| Posted on 2011-02-17 | by a guest

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the mans anger is deceiving, it may look pleasant at first but over time it becomes more
deadly, love thy neighbor and enemy is the theme
| Posted on 2011-02-17 | by a guest

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if you do not forgive and forget your anger will grow like a tree until it grows into a death
wish for your foe (poison apple)
| Posted on 2011-02-17 | by a guest

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This a poem that preaches a Christian principle of forgiveness. Once your sun doesn\'t go
down, it becomes a poison to a friend who becomes your foe. Forgive and forget should be
the pervading theme.
| Posted on 2011-02-15 | by a guest

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Be they friend or foe, harboring a grudge only makes things worse.
When you consider the poem from the speakers point of view, you can relate to the feeling of
victory over a fallen foe. Everyone has experienced this in some degree. Part of the power
and draw of the poem is the relatability the reader feels. The poem displays a truth about
human nature that is quite dark and unfortunate. To take delight in another persons misfortune
whether it is deserved or not is tragic.
| Posted on 2010-11-16 | by a guest

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the \"poison\" is the persona\'s anger, and as the persona didn\'t tell the foe of his anger, it
grew, as the \"poison tree\" grew aswell. The persona\'s anger eventually grew so much for
the foe that the persona began imagining what might happen to the foe if things were to
happen, such as the foe trying to steal the \"apple\". As the anger grew so much eventually the
persona wished his foe to be dead.
| Posted on 2010-10-20 | by a guest

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This poem is a opposition to the Anglican church ideals to suppress unpleasant emotions. I
believe the apple is a biblical reference to the apple on the tree of knowledge in the garden of
eden.
| Posted on 2010-09-18 | by a guest

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soft deceitful wiles can be interpreted as the protagonist pretending they are not angry with
someone and having to smile politely and interact with their foe in public while they still
harbor a grudge, and 'water it with fears, night and morning with' their 'tears', making it that

much harder to let go as they have nurtured it patiently over time.

| Posted on 2010-07-07 | by a guest

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It is easier to tell a friend that they have wronged you than telling your foe but here Blake
does not mention who injured whom. Whether the injured party or the injuring party, the
distaste grows with every insecurity and agony suffered as a result of this untold animosity.
Finally, the built up feelings accumulate and only require to be ignited whether deliberately
or accidentally. it is also important to note that it is not the protagonist who kills his foe, but
instead, it is his foe's infringement that is the subsequent cause of his demise(And into my
garden stole when the night had veiled the pole).Beautiful poem with rather sinister
undertones.
| Posted on 2010-07-07 | by a guest

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to me this poem is a metaphor for anger... the anger with the friend(foe)is the plant, and as
time goes on you have to water the plant and give it sunlight to grow, but if this plant grows
to much it will take over the room or area it is in and it will be a disaster. in other words, the
anger will build up inside of you and eventually bust out like a raging wind. building up
anger inside of you is not good for the soul
| Posted on 2010-05-16 | by a guest