A Poem About Revenge: “A Poison Tree”

“A Poison Tree,� by poet William Blake, deals with the concept of revenge. Revenge can utterly consume a person, and this poem is a perfect example of that. This poem is a good revenge poem because, in it, a man seeks revenge on a former friend of his that has now become his foe. The person that is betrayed is almost certainly a man because men are more prone to using violence and physical altercations to solve their problems than women. In this poem, the man who seeks revenge on his friend tries to contain his feelings of anger, but without much success. Finally, his emotions get the best of him and these feelings of ill will, that he is harboring, consume him. The man’s revenge does not occur quickly, for he allows it to build so he can release it all at once. First of all, the man who is out for revenge allows his emotions to manifest in the form of a tree. Secondly, the man who is out for revenge allows his foe to behold the tree that he is growing out of revenge and spite. Finally revenge is fulfilled when the foe comes into the man’s garden one night and is found dead the next morning. The man who is out for revenge allows his emotions to overcome him which leads him to grow a tree of ill repute, entices his foe

In conclusion, this is a good poem about revenge because the man who is out for revenge is not trying to kill not just any person, but a person that he once considered to be his friend. This poem shows the evilness that lies in every man’s heart, and what it takes to set this evil loose. The entire time the man is unhappy is when his foe is alive, which allows for a plot for revenge to develop in his mind. As the man seethes in his revenge, his tree of revenge also begins to take shape. Though the tree looks sweet and innocent, it is, in all actuality, evil and bitter to the core, much like the man that is growing it.

Second of all “A Poison Tree” is a good poem about revenge because the man in the poem allows his foe to behold the tree that he is growing out of revenge and spite in an attempt to entice his foe into eating the apple that the tree is bearing. The man in the poem allows his foe to see his means of revenge because his foe thinks that the man’s tree is just an ordinary tree. The man in the poem wants his foe to take interest in the tree because it is going to be his foe’s ultimate downfall. The tree that grows this deadly fruit seems to appear out of nowhere because of how fast it is growing. This is part of the allure that entrances the foe getting a closer look at the tree. The fruit on the tree is like a siren because, though it may seem tempting to eat, its actual agenda is for the foe to die after he eats it. Once the foe’s curiosity gets the better of him, it is only a matter of time until the man’s plan for revenge is complete.

This is a good poem about revenge because, in the first quatrain, the man who is out for revenge tries to deal with his feeling of anger. In doing so, the man allows himself to fall victim to his own rage. The man who is out for