ACLC College of Tacloban

SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

Tacloban City

SAMPLE POETRY ANALYSIS

ON ‘A POISON TREE’ BY WILLIAM BLAKE

A Poison Tree
by 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.

1. Structure and Form

The poem is closed in terms of its structure since it follows certain classical conventions of writing
poems. For instance, the poem has four (4) stanzas with four lines (quatrains) each. Each stanza observes a
uniform measurement, that is, seven (7) syllables in the first and third lines, while eight (8) in the second
and last lines. Also, all of the lines follow trochaic tetrameter except for the 2nd, 4th, and 16th lines which are
written in iambic tetrameter.

trochaic tetrameter- I was ANGry WITH my FRIEND (1ST line)

iambic tetrameter- i TOLD my WRATH my WRATH did END (2nd line)

2. Poetic devices

Several literary devices can be observed in the poem. They are as follows:

 metaphor- an extended metaphor could be observed in the whole poem. It is more evident in the
2nd line of the 3rd stanza, ‘Till it bore an apple bright’, which is indicative of the persona’s perilous
actions due to his grudge. The poem further reveals the metaphorical connection of the speaker’s
malevolence and the nurturing of the fruit.
 alliteration- a repetition of the initial /r/ sound can be observed in the 2nd line, ‘I told my wrath,
my wrath did end’.
 consonance- likewise, a repetition of the final /d/ sound can be observed in the 2 nd line, ‘I told my
wrath, my wrath did end’.
 allusion- the setting where the poison tree is located pertains to the Garden of Eden where Adam
and Eve were believed to have stayed. The bright apple is also alluded to the fruit primordially
partaken by Eve.
 anaphora- another repetition could be observed in the poem, but this time, the word ‘and’ in the
3rd and 4th lines of 2nd and 4th stanzas.

3. Rhyme and Rhyme scheme

The poem makes use of end rhymes in the entire poem. The last word in the 1st line ‘friend’ rhymes
with the last word of the 2nd line ‘end’, and so are the last words in the 3rd and 4th lines. The same pattern
could be apparently seen in the succeeding lines. Thus, the rhyme scheme of the poem is AABB CCDD
EEFF GGHH.

4. Imagery

Various types of imagery are embedded in the literary text. Further exemplifications are
enumerated below:

 organic imagery in the first line, ‘I was angry with my friend’. The feeling of anger is transpired
to the readers.
 visual imagery in the 2nd line of the 3rd stanza can be observed- ‘Till it bore an apple bright’. A
mental picture of a bright (probably red) apple is seen.
 another visual imagery in the last line of the poem is observed, ‘My foe outstretched beneath the
tree’. Readers can imagine the enemy to be lying on the ground/under the tree.

5. Theme

The speaker reveals the message of the poem which is revenge or grudge in a subtle yet
comprehensive way. The persona is viewed as someone who has deep resentment towards a specific
person. In lieu of letting go of this resentment, the persona ‘watered’ and ‘sunned’ it until this hostility
resulted to an evil yet satisfying ending. The subject matter of the poem is communication vs secret enmity.
Poems to study for the midterm exam:

1. The Passionate Shepherd to His Love by Christopher Marlowe

2. Harlem by Langston Hughes

3. Jabberwocky by Lews Carroll

4. O Captain! My Captain! By Walt Whitman