“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 waterd 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 veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Poetry Analysis by Sam Mott
People say “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. But a friend is still a friends and an enemy is still an enemy. In the first stanza of William Blake’s “A Poison Tree”, he writes of how he was “wrath” towards his enemies, and his friends. The word “wrath” has a negative connotation and he uses this to try and show that no matter who the wrath is pointed at, it should not be there. But he does somewhat show how wrath towards a friend is better then wrath towards an enemy for he did not tell of his wrath for towards the enemy and “my wrath did grow”. This is unlike the friend.
This wrath turns into fear. Blake writes “And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears”. He held his anger inside and now, since it must be expressed one way, he is beginning to feel sadness. He knows he will not tell his enemy his anger and now it is leading to his downfall. But he uses the opposites of “Night and Morning” to show how it is constant and not just Partial. Also, the word “Morning” can be used as a time and an emotion. He his this though with “smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” He uses positive words though like smiles and soft to describe the sadness he was feeling. This is a common symptom of depression. Wanting to hide the fact that you are sad and cover it up with lies and fake smiles. This is not how it should be. But finding a reason why depression is a important and he finds it.
In the final stanza, Blake relates it back to the title of “The Poison Tree”. His depression begins to diminish and his see his enemy “outstretched beneath the tree”. The poison tree is a metaphor. A Tree is usually connected with life but this tree is like no other tree. It is a poison tree. Which poison is what can kill a man, or in this case, a man happiness. His enemey lays there basking in the trees evilness and this is good. For it is not the man who is under the tree but his foe.
William Blake writes of what many authers cannot and that is the wrath that unfrogiving anger turns into. This is something we have all stuggled with one time or another. We hide our inner anger and, whether we like it or not, it ill come out. So William Blake writes on how it cam out as depression and later wrath. We all have things jumbled inside of our head and if we do not get them out then things will just become chaotic. This is what Wiliam Blake's underlining message was.
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 waterd 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 veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Poetry Analysis by Sam Mott
People say “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”. But a friend is still a friends and an enemy is still an enemy. In the first stanza of William Blake’s “A Poison Tree”, he writes of how he was “wrath” towards his enemies, and his friends. The word “wrath” has a negative connotation and he uses this to try and show that no matter who the wrath is pointed at, it should not be there. But he does somewhat show how wrath towards a friend is better then wrath towards an enemy for he did not tell of his wrath for towards the enemy and “my wrath did grow”. This is unlike the friend.
This wrath turns into fear. Blake writes “And I waterd it in fears, Night & morning with my tears”. He held his anger inside and now, since it must be expressed one way, he is beginning to feel sadness. He knows he will not tell his enemy his anger and now it is leading to his downfall. But he uses the opposites of “Night and Morning” to show how it is constant and not just Partial. Also, the word “Morning” can be used as a time and an emotion. He his this though with “smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.” He uses positive words though like smiles and soft to describe the sadness he was feeling. This is a common symptom of depression. Wanting to hide the fact that you are sad and cover it up with lies and fake smiles. This is not how it should be. But finding a reason why depression is a important and he finds it.
In the final stanza, Blake relates it back to the title of “The Poison Tree”. His depression begins to diminish and his see his enemy “outstretched beneath the tree”. The poison tree is a metaphor. A Tree is usually connected with life but this tree is like no other tree. It is a poison tree. Which poison is what can kill a man, or in this case, a man happiness. His enemey lays there basking in the trees evilness and this is good. For it is not the man who is under the tree but his foe.
William Blake writes of what many authers cannot and that is the wrath that unfrogiving anger turns into. This is something we have all stuggled with one time or another. We hide our inner anger and, whether we like it or not, it ill come out. So William Blake writes on how it cam out as depression and later wrath. We all have things jumbled inside of our head and if we do not get them out then things will just become chaotic. This is what Wiliam Blake's underlining message was.