A Poison Tree (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 watered it in fears,
Night and 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 veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

MEANING BY STANZA
Stanza 1 opens with how the persona was angry with his friend. He told his friend about his anger and the anger
then disappeared. The persona then goes on to describe a scenario when he was angry with his enemy. He did not
tell his enemy that he was angry, thus, his anger kept on growing!

In stanza 2, the persona talks more on how his anger grows. He compares his growing anger to a growing plant
where he waters the plant with his fears and his tears. However, he did not give it real sunshine. He merely gives
smiles and deceitful wiles. A wile is a cunning trick. Here, it suggests that he may be planning some sort of a devious
scheme for his enemy- and this deceitful scheme is just like the sunshine for the growing plant.

Stanza 3 describes how the persona’s efforts eventually bore fruit. The fruit is the apple bright. The enemy clearly
recognises that the fruit belongs to the persona.

Stanza 4 reveals that the enemy had seen the apple and stole it. The enemy had stolen the apple during the night
when it was dark as the “pole” – the North Star was all covered up. Thus, the star was not visible-to guide the
enemy out of the danger. The enemy eats the apple and most probably – he dies.

THEMES

Managing Anger
It is not totally wrong to be angry. However, it is rather important for us to know how to deal with anger. If we
nurture our anger, it might grow and be harmful to us. In this poem, two ways of handling anger were shown with
different outcomes. In the first scenario, the anger disappeared but in the second the anger grew into something
aggressive and negative.

Importance of Communication
As shown in the poem, if the persona had communicated with his enemy, his anger would have been controlled.
However, his refusal to communicate has allowed anger to become something that is very destructive. Therefore it
is often better if we can communicate with people on the issues that is bugging us. The poet indirectly is trying to
persuade his readers to talk about their anger. We can talk about it not only with our friends but with our enemies
too. If we talk, the anger might just reduce and it might just ease our troubles. In turn, it will prevent us from causing
hurt unto others.

Moral Values
1. The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding- When there is a misunderstanding, we
should talk about it to resolve our differences.
2. Harbouring ill feelings against someone- We shouldn't harbour ill feelings against anyone.
3. Forgiving and forgetting- When there is a misunderstanding, we must forgive and forget.
4. Bottling up ill feelings- Bottling up ill feelings is bad for us and those around us. Keep you emotion in check.

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NAME / CLASS :
Practice 1 : How Well Do You Know This Poem? Answer all questions.

1. In stanza 1, what happens to an anger that is not settled?

2. What does the word “deceitful” mean?

3. In stanza 2, which phrase suggests that the persona pretended and used tricks?

4. In stanza 3, which phrase tells you that the persona kept his anger all the time?

5. What does the tree symbolise?

Practice 2 : HOTs Questions

1. What does the persona do with his/her anger of the enemy?

2. “I told it not, my wrath did grow.”

Unstable emotion should never be kept inside. How can you release it? Provide a reason for your answer.

Method: ____________________________________________________________________________

Reason: ____________________________________________________________________________

3. What would you do if you had a misunderstanding with your foe?

4. Why do you think the persona did not tell his foe about his wrath?

5. What two things can you learn from this poem?

6. “Till it bore an apple bright”

Do you think revenge solves problems? Give a reason for your answer.

Opinion: __________________________________________________________________________

Reason:___________________________________________________________________________

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NAME / CLASS :
7. How does the persona feel about his/her foe lying under the tree in the morning. Give a reason for your
answer.

8. ‘I was angry with my friend.’

How would you avoid getting angry with a friend. State a good effect of your action.

Method: ____________________________________________________________________________

Reason: ____________________________________________________________________________

9. ‘I was angry with my foe’

State one bad effect of anger and suggest a solution to manage anger.

Effect: _____________________________________________________________________________

Solution: ___________________________________________________________________________

10. What is the poem about?

11. What lessons have you learnt from the poem? State two.

a. ______________________________________________________________________________

b. ______________________________________________________________________________

12. Why does the foe want the apple?

Practice 3 : Write the meaning of the words given below.

WORD MEANING
wrath
foe
watered
sunned
deceitful
wiles
bore
beheld
veiled
pole