A Poison Tree

William Blake
( 1757 - 1827 )
 About The Poet
William Blake
( 1757 - 1827 )
William Blake was a famous poet,
painter, and engraver of the late 18th
century and early the 19th century.
William Blake was born on the
28th November, 1757 in London. His
father James Blake was a hosier.
He and his wife Catherine had six
children.
He left school at the age of 10 to become apprenticed to a
master engraver, in which he remained until 1779.
As a child, he was able to ‘see’ luminous beings not of this
world, and these continued into adult life, often mingling with
prophetic visions and dreams to inspire much of his creative
output. His first poems were published in 1783.
In 1800 he left London to live and work for a short while in
Sussex but returned to the capital in 1803 where he continued
to write and to illustrate his own verse with assistance from
Catherine who often worked alongside him. His poems remain
especially popular.
Short on sentimentality, but rich in symbolism, many have
a particularly modern ring to them and were also highly
influential among the later Romantics and Pre-Raphaelite
poets and painters of the 19th century. He died in London in 1827.
 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.
 Stanza (1)
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.

New Vocabulary:
wrath : extreme anger
foe : enemy
Paraphrase:
The poet tells us that when he was angry with his friend he
simply told his friend that he was annoyed with him, and that
put an end to his bad feeling. But when he was angry with his
enemy, he didn’t convey his grievance to this foe, and so the
anger grew. Whereas we can trust our friends with our true
feelings and be honest with them, a foe is someone who –
almost by definition – we cannot be so honest with.
Figures of Speech:
Metaphor:
Line 4:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
The poet compares his anger to a plant or a tree which can
grow.
Writing Techniques:
Alliteration:
Line 1:

I was angry with my friend:

The ‘w’ sound in ‘was’, and ‘with’ is repeated to create internal
music.
Repetition:
Lines 2 & 4:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
‘my wrath’ is repeated to emphasise the meaning and make it
clear.
Contrast:
Lines 1 & 3:
I was angry with my friend:
I was angry with my foe:
‘friend’ & ‘foe’ are opposites to emphasise the meaning and
make it clear.
Rhyme Scheme:

aa bb
 Stanza (2)
And I watered it in fears.
Night and morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles.
And with soft deceitful wiles.
New Vocabulary:
deceitful : behaving in a dishonest way by telling lies and making
people believe things that are not true
wiles: clever tricks

Paraphrase:
The poet clarifies his reasons to fear his enemy. His fears and
frustrations increase his extreme anger. But he tends not to
be honest with his enemy. He smiles at him and acts friendly,
building up a deceitful relationship lacking in trust.
Figures of Speech:
Metaphor:
Lines 1 & 3:
And I watered it in fears.

And I sunned it with smiles.

The poet compares his anger to a plant or a tree which can be

watered and exposed to the sun.
Writing Techniques:
Contrast:
Line 2:
Night and morning with my tears:
‘night’ & ‘morning’ are opposites to emphasise the meaning and
make it clear.

Repetition:
Lines 1, 3 & 4:
And I watered it in fears.

And I sunned it with smiles.

And with soft deceitful wiles.

The word ‘and’ is repeated to emphasise the meaning and make
it clear.
Alliteration:
Line 3:

And I sunned it with smiles.

The ‘s’ sound in ‘sun’, and ‘smiles’ is repeated to create internal
music.
Rhyme Scheme:

cc dd
 Stanza ( 3 )
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.

New Vocabulary:
bore : produced flowers or fruit
beheld : saw
Paraphrase:
In the third stanza, this poison tree of anger had an apple. This
‘apple bright’ attracts the attention of his enemy. The poet wants
to show that anger and hatred may become appealing to him,
and his enemy is fooled by his deceitful behavior.
Figures of Speech:
Metaphor:
Lines 1 & 3 :
And it grew both day and night.
And my foe beheld it shine.
The poet compares his anger to a plant or a tree which can
grow and be seen.
Writing Techniques:
Contrast:
Line 1:
And it grew both day and night.

‘day’ & ‘night’ are opposites to emphasise the meaning and

make it clear.

Alliteration:
Line 2:
Till it bore an apple bright.
The ‘b’ sound in ‘bore’, and ‘bright’ is repeated to create internal
music.
Repetition:
Lines 1, 3 & 4:
And it grew both day and night.
And my foe beheld it shine.
And he knew that it was mine.
The word ‘and’ is repeated to emphasise the meaning and make
it clear.
Rhyme Scheme:

ee ff
 Stanza ( 4 )
And into my garden stole.
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

New Vocabulary:
veiled : a threat or warning is not expressed directly or clearly
outstretched : stretched or spread out as far as possible

Paraphrase:
Finally, the poet says that his enemy then sneaked into his
garden one night and ate the apple from this tree; when the
poet finds his enemy the next morning, his foe is lying dead
under the tree, having eaten the poisoned fruit.

Figures of Speech:
Metaphor:
Line 2:
When the night had veiled the pole;
The poet compares the night to something materialistic which
can cover a threat.
Writing Techniques:
Contrast:
Lines 2 & 3:
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
‘night’ & ‘morning’ are opposites to emphasise the meaning and
make it clear.

Rhyme Scheme:

gg hh
 Questions

Answer the following questions:

1- What is the main idea of the poem?

2- And I watered it in fears.

Night and morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles.
And with soft deceitful wiles.
a) Paraphrase the above stanza.

b) Pick out a figure of speech or a writing technique and

explain it.
3- And into my garden stole.
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree

a) Paraphrase the above stanza.

b) Pick out a figure of speech and explain it.