The Poison Tree by William Blake 1794: GCSE

A Poison Tree

by 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 veil'd the pole; 

In the morning glad I see; 
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Context:

Blake was an eighteenth century printmaker and painter as well as a poet. He combined his artistic talents to produce books that included poetry and pictures. Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience deal with the same subject matter but have a very different tone, Songs of Experience being much darker. The Poison Tree appears in Songs of Experience.

Blake was very interested in social justice and the negative effects of the Industrial Revolution. He was interested in man and nature as if often referred to as a pre-Romantic as he was writing just before the Romantic period.

Blake hated the Church of England but revered the Bible and this was a strong influence in much of his work. A Poison Tree evokes the story of Eve from Genesis.

Structure:

Four stanzas with four lines (quatrains) in each. Each stanza composed of two rhyming couplets.

Simple AABB rhyme scheme. Lines are end stopped, which means each line has its own main idea punctuated with either a colon or full stop, making a very strong rhyme scheme.

Rhythm alternates throughout poem. First and third lines are trochaic trimester and second and fourth lines are iambic tetrameter. This suggests conflict in the poem.

Meaning:

About disastrous consequences when anger becomes a seething obsession. First stanza is about anger and the different ways he deals with it.  The second and third stanzas suggest how not expressing anger is like nurturing a poisonous tree so it can grow and bear fruit. Seeing the apple and wanting it, the speaker’s enemy creeps into garden and is discovered dead under the tree.

Evokes the idea of a nursery rhyme where difficult challenging ideas are expressed in a simple form. A morality poem written for children – lesson in importance of communication.

Point of View:

First person poem with speaker relating experience that he hopes we will learn from. Voice of experience.

Use of Language:

First stanza

Wrath – anger. Open communication resolved issue, true friendship means openness. Colons act like an equals sign in maths. Simple message.

Second stanza

Extended metaphor – not expressing anger is like watering a poisonous tree. Link to horticulture – tree is watered and sunned.

Night and morning, suggests obsession – he cannot stop thinking about his anger.

Sunned, smiles, soft, deceitful, wiles – sibilance to emphasise tree is evil.

Suggests secrecy, deceitful – to not tell the truth, wiles – cunning plans. Links to third stanza foe going in under cover.

Third stanza

Repetition of day and night, all-consuming loathing that never stops growing. Because of being constantly nurtured tree bears a bright apple which encapsulates speaker’s rage.

Evokes Genesis and the tree of knowledge from which Eve eats and as a result is banished from paradise.

Tree – something we associate with life should be the cause of sin and death.

Alliteration, harsh “b” sound suggests harsh lesson to be learnt.

Repetition of “and”, simple conjunction adds to childlike quality and increases pace.

Fourth stanza

Night referred to for third time, suggests darkness, secrecy and perhaps evil.

Pole, reference to star that night has covered, emphasis of darkness

Final rhyming couplet moves to present tense.

Apple represents speaker’s wrath and anger.

“Glad” suggests speaker has lost all moral values and perspectives.

Themes

Extended metaphor for how destructive anger is if kept inside. Blake is not condemning the emotion but is saying it should be expressed to both friends and foes.

Warning against lies and deceit and nurturing anger secretly (sunned with smiles). Foe also acts secretly.

Wrath – God’s wrath in the Bible. Reads like a parable.

Revision Questions for The Poison Tree:

1. Do you think this is a childish poem?
2. How does Blake use structure to make his point as forceful as possible?
3. Discuss the image of a plant growing - what stages does he talk about and what do they represent?