A POISON TREE by WILLIAM BLAKE A Poison Tree Summary
The speaker is presenting two scenarios here. In the first, he (we're assuming it's a he) is in a tiff with his friend, a spat if you will. But wait! There's no nee d to fret. He told his friend aout his h is anger and guess what" His anger went away. #resto! $h, the power of communication. %cenario & e get the same asic set*up here. The speaker's mad again, ut this time he's mad at his enemy. ill ill he follow the same route" +ou +ou et your ippy he won't. He keeps mum aout his anger for his enemy and, well, that anger ust grows. The speaker's anger is only heightened y his fears, and his continued deception aout his true feelings. Then, in an odd, metaphorical metaphorical twist, twist, the speaker's anger lossoms into an apple. +um! +um! $t least the speaker's enemy thinks so. -ne night, nigh t, he sneaks into the speaker's garden (presumaly for a delicious apple snack), ut it doesn't work o ut so well for him. The net morning, the speake r is happy to see that his foe lying dead under the tree that ore the (apparently poison) apple. /ot good.
Stanza 1 Summary Get out the miroso!e" beause #e$re %oin% throu%h this !oem &ine'by'&ine( Lines 1') I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end. •
$s the poem opens, the speaker descries how he was angry with his friend. Bad times.
•
%till, he told his friend he was angry (0I told my wrath0), and presumaly why he was angry, and his anger disappeared. Happy days are here again!
•
e notice notice that these lines are linked with end rhyme and a pretty consistent rhythm. e wonder if this form will continue. (%poiler alert 1heck out 02orm 02orm and 3eter 0 for more on this.)
Lines *'+ I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow. grow.
1
•
The speaker descries a different scenario, now. He was once angry with his 0foe0 (a.k.a. his enemy), ut didn't tell him aout it.
•
%ince the speaker did not talk aout his anger (0I told it not0), his anger got igger and igger (0my wrath did grow0).
•
+ou know how, when you keep something ottled up inside, it tends to make that feeling more intense and o4erwhelming" e're guessing that this is what's going on for the speaker here.
Stanza ) Summary Get out the miroso!e" beause #e$re %oin% throu%h this !oem &ine'by'&ine( Lines ,' And I watered it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles. •
The speaker talks more aout how his anger grows. 5sing figurati4e language, he treats this anger 4ery much like a plant. $ plant needs water and sun in order to grow, and so apparently does his anger.
•
•
He watered it with his 0fears0 and his 0tears0 and made sure it got plenty of sunshine. /ow, we know that the speaker didn't gi4e his anger*plant real sunshine. Instead, he ga4e it 0smiles0 and 0deceitful wiles.0 These are more like 0fake0 sunshine.
•
They help the plant to grow6like real sunshine would for a real plant..
•
$ wile is a 0crafty, cunning, or deceitful trick.0 07eceitful wiles,0 then, are super* deceitful tricks (or really, really cunning traps). The speaker suggests that he is a very decepti4e person and that he is planning something 4ery sinister and mischie4ous. hate4er it is, though, his anger seems to dig it, since those deceitful schemes are like sunshine to it.
2
•
$ growing plant is usually a good, positi4e thing, a symol of life. It seems ironic that a growing plant is eing compared to a growing anger. Is anger a good thing in the world of this poem"
Stanza * Summary Get out the miroso!e" beause #e$re %oin% throu%h this !oem &ine'by'&ine( Lines .'1) And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright. And my foe beheld it shine. And he knew that it was mine, •
Because of the speaker's efforts, his plant (anger) e4entually ears (0ore0) fruit an 0apple right.0 +um!
•
ait, is this apple a good thing"
•
The speaker's enemy sure thinks so. The enemy sees the fruit of the speaker's wrath, and somehow he's ale to recogni8e that it elongs to the speaker. It's not clear how, though.
•
9et's read on to see if that's eplained later in the poem
Stanza + Summary Get out the miroso!e" beause #e$re %oin% throu%h this !oem &ine'by'&ine( Lines 1*'1/ And into my garden stole hen the night had veiled the pole;
3
In the morning glad I see !y foe outstretched beneath the tree. •
$ha! The enemy has seen this anger*apple in the speaker's garden. %o, it's safe to say that's how he knows it is the speaker's.
•
That doesn't stop the enemy from trying to steal it, though. $fter he has seen the apple, the 0foe0 sneaks into the speaker's garden at night.
•
The word 0stole0 is a past tense of the 4er 0steal,0 which in this contet means something like 0sneak in secretly.0 This word also suggests 0steal0 (like a thief steals). It seems that the speaker is laming his foe, or calling him a thief.
•
This happens when it's super*dark out. In the phrase 0n ight had 4eiled the pole,0 pole refers to the top of the earth, as in the 0north pole,0 ut it can also mean the pole star, also known as the /orth star, also known as #olaris. It's an important star for na4igation, since it's right and it stays pretty much fied in the sky. Tonight, though, the night has 04eiled0 it, co4ered it up. This star, used in na4igating folks safely through danger, is not 4isile. 5h*oh!
•
To suggest that the night (an astract time) could actually co4er up the star (like a person might) is to use personification.
•
$pparently, at some point in the super*dark night, the enemy eats the apple, which ends up killing him or making him fall asleep. It's not clear which, although the speaker is glad to see him laid out in the garden. e're going to go with death for the enemy here, since the speaker would likely not e too happy if his enemy oth ate his apple and used his garden like a cheap hotel.
•
%till, the word 0glad0 is a it amiguous here (it could ha4e more than one meaning). 0:lad0 could refer to the morning, as in 0the morning is glad,0 or it can refer to the speaker's feelings when he sees his 0foe0 lying 0eneath the tree.0
•
;ither way, it seems like ad times for the enemy, good times for the speaker. -r is it"
A Poison Tree Symbo&ism" Ima%ery" A&&e%ory
4
Plants The poem is called 0$ #oison Tree,0 so, naturally, 4egetation plays an important role. Indeed, the speaker's anger grows until it e4entually produces a poisonous apple that, presumaly, kills his 0...
Night and Day The speaker is adamant aout telling us what time of day it is. He waters his anger oth at night and in the morning. He gi4es it sunshine (in the daytime). It grows 0oth day and night.0 The 0foe0...
Liquid Imagery The speaker talks aout culti4ating anger as if it were a plant. %o, naturally he must 0water0 it. -nly, he doesn't water it with water, ut rather with his tears. %adness, anger, and other negati4...
The Enemy Blake's poem is aout eing angry with an enemy and getting e4en with him. The speaker does a lot of things to make his 0foe0 really seem like an enemy. 2or eample, he tells how he (the 0foe0) 0st...
P&ants Symbo& Ana&ysis The poem is called 0$ #oison Tree,0 so, naturally, 4egetation plays an important role. Indeed, the speaker's anger grows until it e4entually produces a poisonous apple that, presumaly, kills his 0foe.0 #lants, trees, and especially the processes necessary to make them grow (water, sun, care) are our speaker's primary metaphors for how anger de4elops from a feeling into a destructi4e action. •
9ines < The speaker says his wrath grows ecause h e didn't say anything aout it. -f course, anger doesn't literally grow, so growth is here a metaphor for the process y which one's anger ecomes greater and greater.
5
•
9ines =*> The speaker waters his anger (with tears and fears), ut h e doesn't literally water it ecause it's not a real thing. atering is here a metaphor for the de4elopment and increasing power of one's anger.
•
9ines ?*@ The speaker gi4es his anger sunshine, only he doesn't literally gi4e it sunshine. 0%unnAing0 is here again a metaphor for the things we do to make our anger grow. 7oes it sound like a pit of snakes in here" $h. That repetition of the % sound in the eginning of 0sunned0 and 0smiles0 is called alliteration.
•
9ine C The speaker's anger continues to grow. $nger doesn't literally grow, so growth is here a metaphor for the process y which one's anger ecomes greater and greater.
•
9ine DE The speaker's anger ears an 0apple right.0 3aye in Blake's head anger can ear fruit, ut we know that the apple is ust a symol of, or metaphor for, the end result of one's potent rage (in this case, a poisonous fruit that will kill a man). The repetition of the 00 in 0ore0 and 0right0 gi4es us another eample of alliteration.
•
9ine DF The speaker tells us that his foe 0stole0 into his garden. The garden here seems like a metaphor for the place in our mind where we let our anger fester, grow, de4elop, and ecome, essentially, destructi4e.
•
9ine D> $t last, the speaker's anger has matured in plant terms into a tree. The damage that it causes is also fully de4eloped. The 0foe0 lies dead eneath the tree, which comes to stand for the giant, destructi4e thing that unchecked anger can ecome.
Ni%ht an0 ay Symbo& Ana&ysis The speaker is adamant aout telling us what time of day it is. He waters his anger oth at night and in the morning. He gi4es it sunshine (in the daytime). It grows 0oth day and night.0 The 0foe0 eats the apple at night, and the speaker sees him dead in the morning. The speaker suggests that the growth and de4elopment of anger is something that happens all the time, oth at night and in the daytime. He implies that it is, in effect, a long*term thing that takes o4er our li4es. •
9ines =*> The speaker waters his anger at night and in the morning with fears and tears. He doesn't literally water it ecause it's not a real plant, so watering is here a metaphor for the process of culti4ating one's anger, for adding fuel to the fire, we might say.
6
•
9ine ?*@ The speaker gi4es his anger the sunshine it needs with his 0smiles0 and 0soft deceitful wiles.0 He doesn't literally gi4e it sunshine ecause it's not a plant, so 0sunning0 is here a metaphor for gi4ing one's anger the nutrients it needs (Gitamin 7 maye").
•
9ine C The speaker's anger grows 0day and night.0 There is no time that's it's not de4eloping.
•
9ine D< The speaker says the 0foe0 came into his garden when 0night had 4eiled the pole.0 That's significant, ecause 0the pole0 could refer to the /orth star, which was used to guide people safely home. Here, though, when his anger is at its height, the pole is in4isile to the speaker, and all is plunged into darkness. This imagery is telling of the speaker's misguided, e4en ignorant condition, all rought on y anger.
•
9ine D= The speaker sees his 0foe outstretched0 in the morning, when light at last shines down on the scene. It's interesting that the foe's actual death is hidden from us, the readers. #erhaps the speaker, in his own darkness, is not aware of the conseuences that such a tree might pose.
Li2ui0 Ima%ery Symbo& Ana&ysis The speaker talks aout culti4ating anger as if it were a plant. %o, naturally he must 0water0 it. -nly, he doesn't water it with water, ut rather with his tears. %adness, anger, and other negati4e feelings ecome the life*gi4ing liuid that causes the anger to grow. It is arguale that, ecause the speaker waters his anger with negati4e things like tears and fears, it e4entually ears a poisonous apple. •
9ine = The speaker waters his anger with 0fears.0 He doesn't literally water it ecause it is not a plant, so 0watered0 is here a metaphor for the culti4ation of anger, for adding fuel to the fire as we might say
•
9ine > The speaker also waters his anger with 0tears.0 hile you could proaly water your plants with your tears (they do ha4e water in them, after all!), it seems more likely that the speaker is again speaking metaphorically aout the culti4ation of anger. It seems that pain and sadness is an important element in the culti4ation of anger. 7o you see them related in this way, too"
The Enemy 7
Symbo& Ana&ysis Blake's poem is aout eing angry with an enemy and getting e4en with him. The speaker does a lot of things to make his 0foe0 really seem like an enemy. 2or eample, he tells how he (the 0foe0) 0stole0 into his garden, which implies that the en emy has a procli4ity (i.e., a tendency toward) for thie4ery. 5ltimately, though, the enemy is the 4ictim of the speaker's anger*apple. hile he may admit that he was glad to see his foe laid low, we're left feeling far more conflicted, and more sensiti4e to the damage our own anger might cause others. •
9ines F*< The speaker refuses to tell his 0foe0 aout h is anger. %omething aout this person stops him from communicating with him in the same way as he is ale to communicate with his friend.
•
9ine DD The 0foe0 sees the apple shining. The apple is a symol for the harmful outcome of hoarding and culti4ating negati4e emotions like anger.
•
9ine DF The enemy sneaks into the speaker's garden at night. The implication is that he is a thief of some kind. $s readers, we're rooting against him.
•
9ine D> The enemy lies dead eneath the tree. Harsh! The tree is here a symol of, or metaphor for, the dangerous conseuences of festering anger. $lthough the speaker is high*fi4ing the world, we're left to take a soer lesson from his ultimately disturing eample.
A Poison Tree Themes
Anger 0$ #oison Tree0 is a poem aout anger, and, more importantly, some of the destructi4e conseuences that can result when we culti4ate our anger, rather than try a more producti4e outlet for this pot...
Language and Communication In the first stan8a of 0$ #oison Tree,0 the speaker says, 0I told my wrath, my wrath did end0 () and 0I told it not, my wrath did grow0 (<). The poem suggests that talking aout emotions is an imp...
8
Lies and Deceit 0$ #oison Tree0 is all aout lies and deception. The speaker suns his anger with 0soft deceitful wiles,0 and this anger e4entually produces an apple that is decepti4ely right and shiny (decepti4el...
A Poison Tree Theme o3 An%er
0$ #oison Tree0 is a poem aout anger, and, more importantly, some of the destructi4e conseuences that can result when we culti4ate our anger, rather than try a more producti4e outlet for this potentially dangerous emotion (like stamp collecting!). The fact that Blake refers to anger as 0wrath0 suggests that the poem is aout a more serious type of anger, a 4engeful or spiteful feeling of ilical magnitude (0wrath0 is commonly used in the Bile to refer to the anger of -ld Testament :od). In other words, this is seriously powerful stuff that must e carefully guarded against.
4uestions About An%er
D. e know from the poem that anger is ad ("). But does the poem offer any ad4ice aout how to deal with people who make us angry, upset, frustrated, etc." If so, what" If not, why not" . How does the speaker feel aout his anger" 7oes he regret it in the end" How do you know" F. How does the sing*songy rhyme scheme of this poem impact the way you understand the speaker's anger"
A Poison Tree Theme o3 Lan%ua%e an0 5ommuniation
In the first stan8a of 0$ #oison Tree,0 the speaker says, 0I told my wrath, my wrath did end0 () and 0I told it not, my wrath did grow0 (<). The poem suggests that talking aout emotions is an important part of dealing with them. It also suggests that not talking aout our emotions, instead haroring and culti4ating them, will lead to p oisonous 0fruit06the poem's metaphor for the dire conseuences of anger that's not dealt with properly. Trust us6that is one ad apple. The good news is, though, that we can a4oid the speaker's grim fate. e'4e ust got to get the ad stuff off our chest on a regular asis.
9
4uestions About Lan%ua%e an0 5ommuniation
D. hy might the speaker discuss his anger with his friend ut not his 0foe0" . How does the enemy recogni8e that the anger*apple is the speaker's, if there is no communication happening" F. 3ight the speaker ha4e communicated his anger to the speaker in ways that weren't necessarily epressed in speech (i.e., non*4eral communication)" How would we know if he did" <. Is it possile to keep negati4e emotions ottled up and not ecome unhappy and miserale"
A Poison Tree Theme o3 Lies an0 eeit
0$ #oison Tree0 is all aout lies and deception. The speaker suns his anger with 0soft deceitful wiles,0 and this anger e4entually produces an apple that is decepti4ely right and shiny (decepti4ely ecause the apple turns out to e poisonous, not made of wa). The speaker isn't the only guilty party, howe4er. In the last stan8a, the 0foe0 0steals0 into the g arden, presumaly in order to steal the apple whose right, shiny peel must e irresistile. $nger isn't ust anger all y itself, then. The poem suggests that its good uddies lies and deceit also accompany it.
4uestions About Lies an0 eeit
D. hom do you see as the 4ictim in this poem" 7o you sympathi8e more with the speaker (who is deceitful) or the speaker's 0foe0 (who steals the apple)" . How are anger and deceit related to each other in this poem" F. How does the speaker decei4e himself in the poem" <. 7oes the speaker attempt to decei4e the reader at any point in the poem" If so, when"
10
A Poison Tree 4uotes See more 3amous 2uotes 3rom !oetry 6in0 2uotes 3rom this !oem" #ith ommentary 3rom Shmoo!( Pi7 a theme be&o# to be%in(
Anger Quotes I was angry with my friend I told my wrath, my wrath did end. (D*)
Language and Communication Quotes I was angry with my friend I told my wrath, my wrath did end. (D*)
Lies and Deceit Quotes $nd I sunned it with smiles, $nd with soft deceitful wiles. (?*@)
A Poison Tree An%er 4uotes See more 3amous 2uotes 3rom !oetry
DHow we cite our uotes (9ine)
•
4uote 81 I was angry with my friend I told my wrath, my wrath did end. (D*)
The rhyme etween 0friend0 and 0end0 suggests that, perhaps, it is much easier for anger to 0end0 when it comes to friends, rather than enemies. #erhaps friendship is necessary efore anger can finally suside. $nger 4uote 8) I was angry with my foe I told it not, my wrath did grow. (F*<) 11
If the rhymes in the first two lines emphasi8e the connection etween the end of wrath and friendship, lines F*< emphasi8e ust the opposite. The word 0foe0 rhymes with 0grow,0 which suggests that ha4ing enemies, or e4en percei4ing someone as your foe, is the source from which destructi4e anger springs. $nger 4uote 8* $nd I watered it in fears, /ight and morning with my tears $nd I sunned it with smiles, $nd with soft deceitful wiles (=*@).
The repetition of 0and0 three times in this stan8a suggests how things like anger and 0fears,0 0tears,0 and 0soft deceitful wiles0 are connected. The list*like effect of the word 0and0 implies that all these things are on eual footing with one another, connected in a cha in of negati4ity.
A Poison Tree An%er 4uotes See more 3amous 2uotes 3rom !oetry How we cite our quotes: Line!
4uote 8+ $nd my foe eheld it shine. $nd he knew that it was mine, (DD*D)
3mm! That's good anger*apple! The speaker's anger is simultaneously attracti4e to his foe, and it's also clearly identifiale as to whose apple it is. This makes us think that anger can e attracti4e to others in the sense that it attracts the anger of others (+ou're mad at me" ell, then I'm mad at you!). -ur anger, too, is not an anonymous creation. It's recogni8ale to others, in part ecause it's so deeply seated in our personalities. %cary.
A Poison Tree Lan%ua%e an0 5ommuniation 4uotes See more 3amous 2uotes 3rom !oetry How we cite our quotes: Line!
4uote 81 I was angry with my friend I told my wrath, my wrath did end. (D*)
12
The poem's first two lines show how anger can e literally contained or cured y talking aout it! They enact this theme formally as well. In line , the words 0my wrath, my wrath0 appear sandwiched (this figure is called chiasmus) etween 0I told0 and 0did end0 in such a way that suggests talking is a way of containing ange r and making it go away. 9anguage and 1ommunication 4uote 8) $nd I watered it in fears, /ight and morning with my tears $nd I sunned it with smiles, $nd with soft deceitful wiles. (=*@)
The repetition of 0and0 three times in this stan8a illustrates how closely linked the de4elopment of anger and a lack of communication are. It is as if the poem is saying 0I didn't speak aout my anger and then happened and then y happened and then 8 happened.0 9anguage and 1ommunication 4uote 8* $nd it grew oth day and night, Till it ore an apple right. $nd my foe eheld it shine. $nd he knew that it was mine (C*D)
/either the speaker nor the 0foe0 speak to each other. The communication here is entirely non* 4eral, and it leads to tragic conseuences (for the enemy, at least). The speaker and his foe employ other senses and physical gestures (in this stan8a it's sight in the pre4ious stan8a it's tears, fears, and smiles), rather than communicating directly, and death results. The poem champions speaking and listening o4er seeing.
A Poison Tree Lies an0 eeit 4uotes See more 3amous 2uotes 3rom !oetry How we cite our quotes: Line!
4uote 81 $nd I sunned it with smiles, $nd with soft deceitful wiles. (?*@)
The rhyme on 0smiles0 and 0wiles0 emphasi8es the speaker's deception 0smiles0 are supposed to indicate happiness, or pleasure, or friendship6in short, any numer of positi4e things. The fact
13
that 0smiles0 is paired with 0wiles0 illustrates the lack of any genuine e motion on the speaker's part. 9ies and 7eceit 4uote 8) $nd it grew oth day and night, Till it ore an apple right. $nd my foe eheld it shine. (C*DD)
The apple is decepti4ely 0right0 and 0shiny.0 e know it is poisonous and that nothing good can come from it. The poem suggests that anger can make things appear to e what they are not. In a sense, anger releases a silent killer, something that is in reality incredily dangerous, not the least ecause it is so alluring. 9ies and 7eceit 4uote 8* $nd into my garden stole hen the night had 4eiled the pole (DF*D<)
It appears the 0foe0 is deceitful as well, as h e sneaks into the speaker's garden at night. -f course, for his part, the foe is decei4ed y the allure of the apple. 7eception seems to infect, and affect, e4eryone in the poem.
A Poison Tree 4uestions Brin% on the tou%h stu33 ' there$s not 9ust one ri%ht ans#er(
D. hy do you think Blake chose an apple rather than, say, a pomegranate, or an orange, or a kumuat" . ould you teach Blake's poem to your children in order to teach them aout anger" hy or why not" F. hy does the enemy want to eat the speaker's apple" hy is it so attracti4e"
<. ho is to lame for the enemy's death (if you agree that he's died in the poem)"
14
