A poison tree
In the didactic poem “A Poison Tree,” William Blake begins his composition with the subject of friendship but then dives into the nature of anger, hatred, and wrath which are very prominent in this sixteen line piece. Through the use of effective metaphors, compelling symbolism and expressive imagery, he depicts a man declaring his anger towards a friend and a foe. How he deals with this anger and the contrast in his actions is a relevant theme in the first stanza and poem. “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.” When upset with his friend, the speaker of the poem, whom I assume as Blake, is able to handle his anger and give forgiveness, but wishes not to prevent his anger from growing against his foe. The “Poison Tree” points out the lack of self-control and restraint in man.Stanza two is centered on the tree that the “foe” would later steal from. “And I watered it in fears/ Night & morning with my tears/ and I sunned it with smiles/ and with soft deceitful wiles.” This whole stanza is one large metaphor. The tree represents the repression of anger. As Blake’s pain pours out from him in the form of tears, he thus furthers
In the poem, Blake uses “A Poison Tree,” to point out the lack of self control and restraint in society. The juxtaposition of friend and foe in the first stanza helps re-enforce this theme. Through his careful metaphors, interesting choices of symbols, and descriptive imagery, William Blake explores the nature of human anger, hatred, and wrath. This poem is a perfect example of metaphorical poetry. The poison tree represents the repression of anger. When humans bottle up their anger inside, it tends to build and grow and eventually explode. Just like it takes a tree time to bear a single fruit, it takes time before anger can evolve into animosity. This poem is in closed form because it follows a specific rhyme scheme. There are two sets of rhyming cuplets in each stanza (AABB, CCDD, etc.) and there are four stanzas in total. In the second stanza there is also some use of alliteration and the “s” sound in the lines, “And I sunned it with my smiles and with soft deceitful wiles. One of the reasons why I chose this poem was because there was something about it that I could relate to. I could relate it to certain relationships that I had had in the past with friends and foes. There was a time last year where I got really angry at a few close friends of mine but by the end of the day I could forgive them because I loved them. I got r
Some topics in this essay:
William Blake,
Garden Eden,
AABB CCDD,
Eden Blake,
Poison Tree”,
Adam Eve,
garden eden,
told wrath,
,
tree evil,
Eden Extra,
Bible Garden,
lack self-control restraint,
told wrath wrath,
creation apple,
self control,
lack self,
wrath wrath,
anger hatred wrath,
tree life,
tree represents repression,
friend foe,
bible garden eden,
lack self-control,
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Approximate Word count = 911
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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