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A Poison Tree: William Blake

The poem describes how the speaker's anger towards a foe grew over time through secret nurturing, rather than dissipating through expression as his anger towards a friend did. This anger was "watered" and "sunned" until it bore a poisonous fruit that ultimately killed the foe when he stole into the garden.

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42 views

A Poison Tree: William Blake

The poem describes how the speaker's anger towards a foe grew over time through secret nurturing, rather than dissipating through expression as his anger towards a friend did. This anger was "watered" and "sunned" until it bore a poisonous fruit that ultimately killed the foe when he stole into the garden.

Uploaded by

api-25889073
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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A Poison Tree

William Blake
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 water’d 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 outstretch’d beneath the tree.

Vocabulary:
Wrath – intense anger
Deceitful – keeping the truth hidden, especially to get advantage
Wiles – a trick intended to deceive someone

Questions for Analysis:


1. Summarize each stanza.
2. What is the extended metaphor? What is the meaning of it?
3. Identify the theme of the poem.
4. What is the tone/mood?

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