A Poison Tree

A poison tree. Questions: 1. 2. !. %.

In stanza stanza 1, who who are are the two people the the persona persona was angry with? with? Which word has the the same meaning meaning as ‘terr ‘terrible ible anger? anger? "#plain "#plain the meaning meaning o$ ‘told ‘told as portraye portrayed d in the line ‘I ‘I told my wrath wrath Why was was the persona persona able able to ma&e ma&e up with his his $riend a$ter their their misunderstanding? '. (ompare (ompare the personas personas reaction reaction to his misunders misunderstandi tanding ng with his $riend $riend and later with his enemy. ). *ow did the the persona persona deal with his his anger while while his enemy enemy was ali+e? ali+e? tate tate two things he did. -. *ow did did the the persona persona nurt nurtur ure e his wrath wrath? ? . What do you thin& the the ‘apple ‘apple repres represents? ents? "#plain. "#plain. /. Why do you you thin& the the persona used used the word word ‘deceit$u ‘deceit$ul l to describe describe the wiles? 10.he persona is angry with a $riend. I$ you were the personas $riend, what ad+ice would you gi+e him or her? 11.Identi$y a phrase in the poem which eecti+ely describes the silent, cunning scheming o$ the persona. 12.What do you thin& was the personas $rame o$ mind when he watered his anger in $ears? 1!.What is the main theme portrayed by the poem? 1%.*ow did the persona $eel when he saw his enemy lying on the ground? tate the e+idence. 1'.3o you thin& what the persona did was right? 4ro+ide a reason to support your answer. 1).In your opinion, who is the real +ictim in this poem5the persona or the ‘$oe? 6i+e a reason $or your answer 1-.3o you thin& the persona was sad about his angry $eeling? 6i+e the e+idence to support your answer. 1.What do you thin& the persona should ha+e done when he had the misunderstanding with his ri+al? 6i+e two reasons. 1/.What do you thin& the ‘tree represents? "#plain. 20.What do you thin& would ha+e happened i$ the persona had dealt with his anger towards his $oe? "#plain your answer.

7nswers: 1. 2. !. %.

8riend and enemy Wrath 3ealt with9 handled 9 sorted something out *e could do it because it is easier to tal& things o+er with $riends, e+en in danger '. he persona tal&ed things o+er with his $riend while he re$used to clear his anger with his enemy ). *e did not tal& about the misunderstanding and allowed it to grow inside him by ‘watering it with $ears and tears and sunned it with insincere smiles and tric&s. -. *e watered it with $ears and tears, sunned it with smiles and wiles. . he results o$ unresol+ed anger. he apple symbolizes the conseuences o$ not dealing with anger properly /. he persona is trying to highlight that the smiles are $a&e and not sincere 10.I would suggest that my $riend to spea& honestly to the $riend he or she is angry with.9 I would ad+ise my $riend to $orgi+e this person because being angry would only hurt him or her. 11.o$t deceit$ul wiles. 12.I thin& he was so angry and $elt $ear$ul that he could not thin& properly. 1!.he main theme is harbouring anger and its conseuences. 1%.*e $elt relie+ed and happy as he stated clearly ‘In the morning, glad I see. 1'.;o. he persona should not $eel happy when his enemy is in trouble because its a persons nature to sympathize the un$ortunate ones <7ccept any acceptable answers= 1).I thin& the real +ictim is the ‘$oe because he is unaware o$ the personas anger towards him. he ‘$oe is also not aware o$ the personas ‘deceit$ul wiles to trap and destroy him. 1-.I thin& the persona did not $eel sad because as he said, he was ‘glad to see his enemy being punished or outstretched beneath the tree. 1.*e should ha+e tal&ed it o+er with his enemy. >eason 1: It is unhealthy to harbour bad $eelings until it becomes an obsession. >eason 2: he misunderstanding could ha+e been the personas $ault. 1/.7nger that is gradually built o+er a certain period o$ time 20.he conict between the persona and the enemy would be resol+ed, because they ha+e tal&ed thsings o+er and settled their problems.