POEM: POISON TREE BY WILLIAM BLAKE
Lin Stanza 1 Line-by-line meaning
e
1 I was angry with my I was angry with my
friend: friend.
2 I told my wrath, my I told my wrath (anger) to
wrath did end. my friend and I got over
my anger.
3 I was angry with my foe: I was angry with my foe
(enemy).
4 I told it not, my wrath did I did not tell my wrath to
grow. my foe, so my anger
grew.
Lin Stanza 2 Line-by-line meaning
e
1 And I watered it in fears, I treated my anger like a
plant. A plant needs water
and sunshine. Likewise,
every day I nourished my
wrath with water in the
form of fears and tears.
2 Night and morning with I also gave my anger-tree
my tears; sunshine in the form of
3 And I sunned it with smiles and cunning tricks.
smiles,
4 And with soft deceitful
wiles.
Lin Stanza 3 Line-by-line meaning
e
1 And it grew both day and My tree of anger grew
night, steadily every day until it
2 Till it bore an apple bore an apple. Outwardly,
bright; it was shiny but it was
poisonous.
3 And my foe beheld it My enemy saw the shiny
shine, apple and he knew it was
4 And he knew it was mine, mine.
Line Stanza 4 Line-by-line meaning
1 And into my garden stole One night, when darkness
hid the pole star, my foe
crept into my garden. He
stole my apple. (In line 2,
"pole" refers to the pole
Meaning of Stanza 1
I had a misunderstanding
with my friend and was
angry. I told my friend
about my wrath. I got over
my anger and forgot it. But
when I got angry with my
foe, I did not tell him about
it. I bottled up my wrath
and it intensified. It grew
and grew like a plant.
Meaning of Stanza 2
My anger grew like a tree.
I nourished my anger-tree
with anger, suspicion and
hatred. I was suspicious of
my foe and I was angry
with him. But I tricked
him to bring him closer to
me. Outwardly, I smiled
and I was friendly to gain
his trust.
Meaning of Stanza 3
My "tree" was poisonous
because it was full of
anger, hatred and
suspicion. Later, it bore a
shiny poison apple. My
foe saw it and knew it was
mine.
Meaning of Stanza 4
One night when there
were no stars, my foe
came into my garden and
stole my poison apple. He
fell into my trap. He ate

2 When the night had veiled
the pole:
3 In the morning glad I see
4 My foe outstretched
beneath the tree.
star or North star. It is the apple and died. In the
bright and stays fixed in morning, I was happy to
the sky.) see him lying dead under
In the morning, I was my poison tree.
happy to see my foe lying
dead under the tree.

1. In Stanza 1, which word in the poem means ‘the feeling of anger’?

Wrath

2. In Stanza 2, what did the persona water his wrath with?

His tears / the persona’s tears

3. Why is he angry with his foe?

Maybe his foe did something that he did not like.

4. List two things that you can learn from the poem
We should forgive someone and not contain our anger.
When we are angry at someone, we should tell the person about it.

5. In Stanza 1, what did the persona do when he was angry with his friend?
He told his friend about it and the anger was gone.

6. In Stanza 3, what does ‘It” refer to?

The wrath/ anger/ the tree

7. Which line suggests that the persona’s enemy noticed the apple?
And my foe beheld it shine

8. Anger management is very important. Give two reasons to support our statement.
 When we express our anger positively, we would feel relieved.
 We need to control our anger because if we express it wrongly, we could create bigger
problems.

9. In Stanza 1, who was the persona angry with?

His friend / his enemy / his foe
10. In Stanza 1, how was the persona able to make up with his friend after the
misunderstanding?
He told his anger to his friend and the anger ended.
11. How did the persona feed his anger? Give one way.
 He watered with his fears and tears
 He sunned with smiles
 He sunned it with soft deceitful wiles
12. How would you feel when you gave misunderstanding with your friend? Explain.
Feeling: I feel upset/ sad/ disappointed/ lonely
Explanation: I have no one to talk to.

13. How does the persona feel towards his foe?

Angry/ wrath

14. Which word in the poem means devious?

Deceitful

15. Which line tells you the persona is pleased to see the foe dead?
In the morning glad I see

16. Do you think it is right for the persona to treat his enemy in such a way?
No, it is not the right thing to do.

17. How would you treat your enemy?

I would discuss with the enemy about our misunderstanding and forgive him.

18. In Stanza 1, who are the people the persona is angry with?
His friend and his foe

19. What happened when he did not tell his foe his anger?
His anger grew/ his anger intensified.

20. Which line in Stanza 4 shows that the persona is not upset with what had happened to his
enemy?
In the morning glad I see

21. We can conclude from the poem that harbouring anger towards someone is bad. If you
are in a similar situation, what would you do? Give reasons for your decision. I would
discuss with my enemy about my anger. This is because keeping anger is bad for our
emotion.

22. In Stanza 1, who are the people the persona is angry with?
His friend and his foe

23. In Stanza 2, state a characteristic that describe the persona.

Deceitful / cunning / devious

24. In Stanza 4, which line indicates that the foe is dead?

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

25. What is the best thing to do when you are angry?

Action: I will go to the beach and scream out loud.
Reason: By this way, I can vent out my anger and think about it without hurting
anyone.

26. In Stanza 1, which word has the same meaning as enemy?

 Foe

27. In your opinion, what does the apple symbolize in the poem?
The wrath/ the anger

28. In Stanza 4, which line shows that the sky was dark?
When the night had veiled the pole

29. Putting yourself in the persona’s shoe, list two ways you can resolve a conflict that you
may have with your enemy without hurting one another.
 I will have a good discussion with my enemy.
 I will go to a councillor to get a good advice about my conflict.

30. What emotion is expressed in Stanza 1?

Anger

31. Which word in stanza 2 that has the same meaning as “dishonest”?
Deceitful

32. What happened to the persona’s foe eventually and how did the persona react to this?
The persona’s foe eventually died. He was glad to see his foe outstretched beneath the tree.

33. What would you do if you had a misunderstanding with your enemy? Suggest 2 ways.
 Talk to my enemy and solve the problem
 ignore my enemy

34. In stanza 1, what happened to the persona when he did not express his anger?
His anger intensified / grew.

35. In stanza 3, what did the apple refer to?

The apple referred to the persona’s anger / hatred.

36. In stanza 4, why did the persona feel happy?

 He felt happy because his foe fell into his trap.
 He felt happy because his foe died under the tree.

37. In this poem, the persona was angry with his foe. If you were the persona’s friend, what
advice would you give to him?
 I would advise my friend to speak honestly to his foe so they could clear the
misunderstanding between them
 I would advise my friend to forgive his foe because being angry would only hurt him
and his foe

38. What did the persona do when he was angry with his friend?
He told him his wrath and the wrath was gone.

39. In stanza 2, how did the persona allow his anger to grow?
He watered it in fears and tears and sunned it with smiles and deceitful wiles.
40. In stanza 3, what does the word it refers to?
The persona’s anger / the poison tree / the tree

41. If you were the persona, would you have been glad to see your “foe outstretched
beneath the tree”? Give a reason to support your answer.
 Yes because he had done something bad to me. OR
 No, because we could have forgiven each other’s mistake.

42. In stanza 1, who is the persona angry with?

His friend / his enemy/ his foe

43. Which word in stanza 1 shows the persona is similar to an apple tree?
Grow

44. In stanza 2, what does the word ‘it’ refer to?

The wrath

45. How would you feel if you had a misunderstanding with your friend? Explain.
Feelings : upset /sad / unhappy
Explanation : I have no one to talk to.

46. Which phrase is stanza 1 has the same meaning as ‘kept his anger to himself’
I told it not

47. What did the persona do to ensure that the tree grew healthily?
He watered it with tears / He sunned it with smiles / He sunned it with soft deceitful wiles

48. ‘In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree’
In your opinion, how did the persona feel that morning?
The persona felt happy / excited / glad / contented.

49. Do you agree with the persona’s feeling? Give a reason for your answer.
 No, because it is wrong to kill someone.
 Yes, because the persona felt contented.