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A Poison Tree 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. William Blake

Zimmer 2 Mollie Zimmer English 2100 Professor Camargo 12 February 2013 Forgiveness William Blakes A Poison Tree is an eerily happy poem, which ends in destruction. The narrator, who is actually God, is not the typical God that many people relate to. He thrives off the death that he has committed. Through the use of figurative language, such as metaphors, symbolisms, and religious allusions, Blake develops a theme based on letting go of ones anger and choosing the better option of forgiving one another. The first stanza seems relatively basic and to the point. God was angry with a friend and He confronted him about it. Though the same cannot be said for the foe. He was angry with his foe and decided not to confront him, which leads God to develop a strong dislike for the man. The use of the word wrath (Blake) is a metaphor for poison. Later in the poem this wrath grows into a tree, which produces an apple which all in itself are symbols and metaphors. The tree is a metaphor for the Tree of Knowledge, which is present in the Garden of Eden. It is not until the second stanza that literary devices are used to achieve greater meaning. This stanza is in reference to the tree, which is a symbol for Gods hatred towards his foe. In the first line, And I watered it in fears (Blake), it is evident that the mans anger is growing towards his foe. This is made clear with the use of the word watered (Blake). In relation to the text and the theme, this line now reads, And my

Zimmer 3 anger grew towards my foe. Continuously throughout this stanza, there are more references towards the nurturing of this wrath. Tears (Blake), or water, can then be described to show that the narrator is nurturing his anger. Along with this, sunned it with smiles (Blake) is an example of that as well. Living entities need the sun to survive. Baring the sun in a happy, smiling, way toward the foe shows how the narrator wants to keep his anger growing. In the third stanza, one can see that something has grown due to the pent up anger. And it grew both day and night, /Till it bore an apple bright (Blake). The apple is a symbolism for the final product of the wrath, yet it is disguised and the foe does not know this. The apple is also symbolic for the apple that ruined the biblical figures Adam and Eve. The apple is seen as harmless yet it is laced with poison. In the third line, And my foe beheld it shine, (Blake) the foe believes that the narrator is being true, though he is unknowingly being deceived. In the last stanza there is a reference to a garden (Blake). This garden is the Garden of Eden. The poem describes a tree that bares an apple. Once this apple, or a symbol for wrath in this case, is beheld by the foe, the foe experiences his downfall. By the last stanza, it is evident through symbolism and metaphors that the foe has fallen for the narrators deceitfully friendly gestures. This is shown in the last line. My foe outstretched beneath the tree (Blake). In other words, the foe has taken the bait in which the narrator kills the foe. In the morning glad I see, (Blake) shows that the narrator takes pride in his actions and feels victorious. Though many people see God not in Blakes vision, He is intertwined in this poem. Unlike the God most people know, this God rejoices in killing his foe. Blakes

Zimmer 4 poem is a warning against festering feelings of hatred. The theme is to forgive those that one may feel uneasy towards in order to move on. A Poison Tree shows the repercussions of actions of an individual who thrives off his hate and inevitably destroys another human being.