A Poison Tree

A Poison Tree is a short and deceptively simple poem about repressing anger and the consequences of doing so. The speaker tells of how they fail to communicate their wrath to their foe and how this continues to grow until it develops into poisonous hatred.

Learning Targets

• I can distinguish between literal language (it means exactly what it says) and figurative language (sometimes what you say is not exactly what you mean).

• I can recognize the difference between denotative meanings (all words have a dictionary definition) and connotative meanings (some words carry feeling).

• I can analyze why authors use rhyme and repetition of sounds (alliteration and assonance) to impact the reader and draw him/her to a particular section of the text.

• I can analyze a poem for meaning.

• I can identify characteristics of the literary Romantic Movement.

About the Author

William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognized during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age. (https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/william-blake-39)

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 and 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 outstretch’d beneath the tree.

Notes

Form, Structure, and Language

Form

A Poison Tree is written in quatrains. This straightforward grouping of sets of four lines is one of the simplest and most recognisable poetic forms.

Structure

The poem has four stanzas. Each stanza consists of a pair of rhyming couplets in the regular repeated pattern aabb. The rhythm of the poem is also straightforward and regular which makes it very easy to read, though not necessarily to understand. The straightforward and seemingly simple way in which Blake has written this poem contrasts with the very complex human emotions he is describing.

The poem also contains two clear turning points which help the reader to understand the character of the speaker. The first comes after the opening two lines and shows the difference in how the speaker handles a difficult situation in two separate cases. In the second, symmetry is introduced in the final two lines and shows the speaker's reaction to what has happened. The wording at this point is ambiguous. It is a new day and a new beginning but the result of the speaker's untold anger is still there to see. This makes the reader continue to think about the poem after they have finished reading it.

Language

The vocabulary is simple (even if some of the words are unfamiliar today). Notice the following:

• in the first stanza many of the words are monosyllables except for the word 'angry', which is repeated twice to emphasise emotion and to contrast with the two different ways the speaker deals with this emotion

• the lines in the first stanza all start with 'I' which emphasises that this is a personal story told from an individual point of view

• seven of the other 12 lines in the poem start with 'and' which helps the story to build and increase in intensity

All of the above makes the poem seem like a piece of verse for children and like a simple nursery rhyme with a clear moral message to be learned. The use of 'and' particularly resembles that of a child telling a story. A difficult message is wrapped up in a form and structure which is deliberately simple and using very straightforward vocabulary, to get its point across.

Learning Activity

Analyzing a Poem

EQ: How do I analyze a poem? How do I figure out the meaning/theme of a poem?

What does it mean to analyze a text?

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1. Start by looking at the imagery. (What do you see?)

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2. Describe what is happening. (Like the plot in a story).

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3. Who is the speaker? (Who is talking in the poem?) Who are the other characters?

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*A poem’s speaker is like a story’s narrator. What is their personality like? What is their motivation? What is their tone (attitude?)

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4. Is there anything symbolic? What could the objects symbolize/represent?

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5. Does the poem’s structure add anything to the meaning? (What is the rhyme scheme? What is the rhythm?)

· Rhyme Scheme: the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse.

· Rhythm: a strong, regular, repeated pattern of sound.

Describe the structure of the poem and how the structure can help you understand the poem:

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6. Are there any other literary devices/techniques in the poem like allusion, simile, metaphor?

In “A Poison Tree” there is an extended metaphor.

The term “extended metaphor” refers to a comparison between two unlike things that continues throughout a series of sentences in a paragraph, or lines in a poem. It is often comprised of more than one sentence, and sometimes consists of a full paragraph.

7. What is the extended metaphor in the poem?

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How does the extended metaphor fit with the meaning/theme?

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How does the poem demonstrate characteristics of the Romanic Movement?

PROMPT: What is the theme of the poem “A Poison Tree”? (the message) How does the author make his message clear? Use literary language in your answer.