A Poison Tree by William Blake
A Poison Tree by William Blake
Author William Blake (1757–1827)
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and visionary.
He is a prominent figure in the Romantic movement, distinguished by his original and symbolic work that integrates poetry and visual art.
His works deal with deep subjects such as innocence, experience, morality, human feelings, and spirituality.
Blake was of the opinion that pent up emotions and moral weaknesses bring about devastating outcome.
Title Explanation: A Poison Tree
The title directly reflects the poem's central idea: how anger grows when it is suppressed, much like a tree produces poisonous fruit.
This tree is a metaphor for the destructive power of hidden anger and "poison" amplifies the effects it would cause.
Like a tree requiring nourishment to mature, pent-up emotions flourish when one nurtures them with deceit and hatred.
The title cautions the reader about negative feelings; therefore, it is a fitting and thought-provoking title.
Poem Summary
Two scenarios are discussed in this poem:
1. The speaker vents anger at a friend and then the problem is resolved.
2. The speaker suppresses anger at an enemy and it festers into hate.
This suppressed anger that has been festered into a bitter tree that bears tempting and fatal apple that eventually kills the enemy.
The poem communicates an important moral message: unchecked anger becomes poisonous and poisonous to your own soul and to others as well.
Background about the Poem
A Poison Tree was included in Blake's collection Songs of Experience published in 1794.
Songs of Innocence has a counterpart in Songs of Experience, but this counterpart considers more sinister and complicated themes such as corruption, deception, and loss of innocence.
Blake's poems often explore the dualities of human nature—good versus evil, innocence versus experience, and emotion versus reason.
The poem aligns with Romantic ideals, focusing on emotions, imagination, and the consequences of inner conflict.
Summary of the Poem
Stanza 1
The speaker narrates two situations:
1. When angry with a friend, the speaker talks about it, and the anger subsides.
2. When angry with a foe, the speaker suppresses the emotion, letting it fester.
Stanza 2
Meanwhile, the suppressed anger is metaphorically a growing tree.
The speaker was "watering" this tree with his fears and then "sunned" it with false smiling, keeping the anger in secret.
The care he deliberately accorded the tree, flourishing because of that.
Stanza 3
The bright poisonous apple, symbolizing the pent-up anger in the speaker.
This foe, not suspecting harm, is tempted by the fruit's outlook.
Stanza 4
The enemy comes into the speaker's garden under the tree at night and eats the apple.
The next morning, the speaker discovered the enemy dead beneath the tree, indicating that evil, which is hidden, can cause fatal results.
Literary Devices in the Poem
1. Metaphor
The "tree" is a metaphor for suppressed anger that grows into hatred.
The "apple" symbolizes the fruit of cultivated resentment, a fruit of lie and evil.
2. Symbolism
Tree: The growth of anger and its destructive power.
Apple: Temptation and a result of suppressed emotion.
Garden: The human mind or heart to cultivate emotions
Night: Such that the enemy steals the apple under the veil of night darkness.
3. Alliteration
Repetition of consonant sounds brings focus on ideas like this, for example: "sunned it with smiles."
4. Juxtaposition
Resolution through expression of anger (with a friend) as against destruction through suppression (with a foe).
5. Imagery
Phrases such as "watered it in fears" and "sunned it with smiles" bring vivid images regarding metaphorical growth of anger.
6. Irony
The speaker feels exultant after the death of the foe, but the actual evil was the corruption of the speaker's morals.
7. Biblical Allusion
The apple and garden have allusions to the story of Adam and Eve, with connotations of temptation, sin, and fall.
8. Rhyme Scheme and Structure
The poem has a simple rhyme scheme and is structured in quatrains-four-line stanzas. The straightforward structure that makes the poem highlights the moralistic tone of the work.
Detailed Analysis of Themes
1. Anger and Its Aftermath
The poem describes how hidden anger turns into hate and causes destruction.
Outrage kills conflict, and not letting it out will nurture bad feelings and harm.
2. Deception and Temptation
The speaker covers true emotions behind smiles and guile that fuel their rage.
The enemy is lured by the apple as a metaphor of how deception can capture people and ruin them.
3. Retribution and Morality
The speaker uses the apple as a device for revenge, but his acts seem to show a flaw in morality.
The poem suggests that both the victim and perpetrator are corrupted by wanting retribution.
4. Duality of Mankind
Human beings can forgive with a friend and not forgive with an enemy.
Poetry discusses this dualism within human nature and what is attached to it as regards morals.
Moral Messages
Communication is made open for settling conflicts.
Sweeping inside emotions may cause disasters for both the person and to others.
Duplicity and revenge may fulfill the desire for that moment but later only cause damage.
Relevance in the Present Day
The poem is still very relevant since it dwells on universal emotions such as anger and resentment.
In present-day contexts, it calls for the resolution of conflicts over dialogue and empathy rather than grudges.
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