To answer an essay question on any poem, you must understand what it is about. This section includes:
- The poem in a nutshell
- An explanation of the poem, section-by-section
- An outline of Blake’s intention and message in each of these sections
'A Poison Tree' in a nutshell
'A Poison Tree' depicts a conflict between the speaker and his enemy. It focuses on the dangers and consequences of suppressing feelings of anger. When the speaker is angry with his friend, he finds it easy to tell his friend about his feelings, but he is unable to do the same thing with his enemy. His anger towards his enemy grows stronger, until he becomes obsessed by it. Blake uses the extended metaphor of a tree growing in the speaker’s garden to describe the growth of his anger; the fruit from the tree eventually poisons his enemy. Although the speaker shows no regret about his enemy’s death, the poem carries a powerful message about the importance of expressing our emotions, even difficult ones.
'A Poison Tree' breakdown
Lines 1–4
“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.”
Explanation
- The speaker is angry with his friend
- He tells his friend about his anger (“wrath”):
- By talking to his friend about his anger, he is able to overcome the feelings of wrath
- The speaker is then angry with his enemy (“foe”)
- He doesn’t tell his enemy about his feelings, and therefore his anger increases
Blake’s intention
- By sharing his feelings of anger with his friend, the speaker is able to resolve them and stop feeling angry
- However, he is not able to do the same thing when he feels angry with his enemy:
- This means he cannot move forward and deal with his feelings, so they increase
- By juxtaposing the two situations, Blake is demonstrating that uncomfortable feelings, like anger, can be overcome if they are discussed
- However, if difficult feelings are not discussed, they are not resolved and instead become stronger, leading to greater conflict
Lines 5–8
“And I water’d it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.”
Explanation
- The speaker describes how he nurtures his growing anger:
- His anger becomes like a thing that is growing external to him
- He nurtures his anger by focusing his fears on it (“water’d” is an archaic way of writing “watered”), in the same way as he would nurture a growing tree
- Every day, at night and in the morning, his tears make his anger grow stronger
- He provides the “sun” for its growth by smiling and deceiving others about his true feelings; his “wiles” are his devious actions
Blake’s intention
- These lines show how the speaker’s anger increases when he keeps it to himself
- Blake’s extended metaphor depicts how the speaker’s anger is so powerful that it has become like an external thing, with a life of its own
- By using the metaphor of a tree for the speaker’s anger, Blake is showing how repressed negative feelings can corrupt nature itself
- However, the things that nurture the tree are the speaker’s fear and sadness – “fears” and “tears” show just how unhealthy his obsession is
- The obsessive nature of the speaker’s anger is shown by him focusing on it constantly, “night and morning”
- Hiding his feelings from other people by smiling and pretending nothing is wrong only strengthens the speaker’s anger and sense of inner conflict
Lines 9–12
“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,”
Explanation
- The tree that represents the speaker’s anger grows constantly
- Eventually, it produces a fruit – a shining apple
- The speaker’s enemy sees the apple and knows that it is the product of the speaker’s anger
Blake’s intention
- These lines show that suppressed anger can grow uncontrollably and result in consequences
- The speaker’s tree bears fruit; in this extended metaphor, Blake is showing how suppressed anger can produce a negative outcome
- By ending the lines describing the apple with the adjectives “bright” and “shine”, Blake emphasises its perfection and attractiveness
- But, because the apple has grown out of the speaker’s anger, its appearance is deceptive, so it becomes a symbol of both wrath and deceit
- The speaker’s enemy recognises the apple as a result of the speaker’s anger and their conflict; even suppressed anger finally reveals itself
Lines 13–16
“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.”
Explanation
- The speaker’s enemy sneaks into speaker’s garden at night:
- The reference to the “pole” could mean the apple tree itself, or it could refer to the pole star (Polaris, the North Star)
- If the reference is to the pole star, the fact that it is “veil’d” (covered over with clouds) could be a further metaphor for the way in which anger can obscure morality
- It is implied that the speaker’s enemy eats the apple:
- The speaker is happy to see his enemy lying under the tree the next morning
- Although they are only described as “outstretch’d” (stretched out), the implication is that they have died
Blake’s intention
- These lines demonstrate the destructive result of suppressed anger and unresolved conflict
- Blake uses the homophone “stole” to imply the furtive nature of the enemy’s actions and their taking of the apple without permission:
- This shows how the negative consequences of suppressed anger can spread to other people and affect their actions, creating a wider conflict
- The speaker is “glad” to see his enemy lying under the tree, showing that his anger has corrupted his morality and overwhelmed his personality
- The person who shared his anger with his friend at the beginning of the poem has become someone who delights in seeing the fatal result of his anger