Docsity
Log inSign up
Docsity
Prepare for your exams
Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity

Earn points to download
Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan

Guidelines and tips
Guidelines and tips
Sell on Docsity
Sell on Docsity
Log inSign up

Prepare for your exams

Study with the several resources on Docsity

Find documents

Prepare for your exams with the study notes shared by other students like you on Docsity

Search Store documents

The best documents sold by students who completed their studies

Search through all study resources
Docsity AINEW

Summarize your documents, ask them questions, convert them into quizzes and concept maps

Explore questions

Clear up your doubts by reading the answers to questions asked by your fellow students

Earn points to download

Earn points by helping other students or get them with a premium plan

Share documents
download point icon20 Points

For each uploaded document

Answer questions
download point icon5 Points

For each given answer (max 1 per day)

All the ways to get free points
Get points immediately

Choose a premium plan with all the points you need

Study Opportunities

Choose your next study program

Get in touch with the best universities in the world. Search through thousands of universities and official partners

Community

Ask the community

Ask the community for help and clear up your study doubts

University Rankings

Discover the best universities in your country according to Docsity users

Free resources

Our save-the-student-ebooks!

Download our free guides on studying techniques, anxiety management strategies, and thesis advice from Docsity tutors

From our blog

Exams and Study
Go to the blog

The Destructive Power of Repressed Anger: An Analysis of William Blake's 'A Poison Tree', Study notes of English Literature

Pondicherry UniversityEnglish Literature

A detailed analysis of william blake's poem 'a poison tree,' which explores the consequences of concealing anger. The poem uses vivid metaphors, symbolism, and poetic devices to illustrate how unresolved emotions can fester and lead to devastating outcomes. The analysis delves into the themes of anger, deception, and revenge, while also examining the poem's moral lesson on the importance of expressing feelings in a healthy manner. The document offers a comprehensive understanding of the poem's structure, imagery, and literary techniques, making it a valuable resource for students, scholars, and literature enthusiasts.

Typology: Study notes

2023/2024

Available from 09/29/2024

ambika-grewal
ambika-grewal 🇮🇳

2 documents

1 / 6

Toggle sidebar

This page cannot be seen from the preview

Don't miss anything!

bg1
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 waterd it in fears,
Night & 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 veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
pf3
pf4
pf5

Partial preview of the text

Download The Destructive Power of Repressed Anger: An Analysis of William Blake's 'A Poison Tree' and more Study notes English Literature in PDF only on Docsity!

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 waterd it in fears, Night & 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 veild the pole; In the morning glad I see; My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Summary and Analysis of "A

Poison Tree" by William Blake

Poet: William Blake Published in: Songs of Experience (1794) Form: Lyric poem, four quatrains, AABB rhyme scheme. Summary: "A Poison Tree" explores the destructive consequences of repressed anger. The speaker recounts two different scenarios: one where he expresses his anger toward a friend and resolves the conflict, and another where he conceals his anger toward a foe, allowing it to fester and grow. The speaker metaphorically nurtures this anger until it manifests in a poisonous apple, which ultimately leads to the enemy's death. Stanza-by-Stanza Analysis: 1st Stanza:  The speaker contrasts how expressing anger can lead to resolution, as seen with the friend, while suppressing it causes the anger to grow, as with the foe.  The underlying message is that open communication prevents resentment from escalating. 2nd Stanza:  The speaker personifies their anger, comparing it to a plant that grows with attention and care.  "Watered it in fears" and "sunned it with smiles" suggest the nurturing of negative emotions through deception and manipulation. 3rd Stanza:  The anger matures into a metaphorical "apple," which represents the culmination of the speaker’s concealed rage.  The apple is bright and attractive, tempting the foe, but it is secretly poisonous. 4th Stanza:  The foe, unaware of the danger, sneaks into the speaker’s garden at night and consumes the apple.  The final image of the foe lying dead beneath the tree symbolizes the fatal consequences of suppressed anger.

  1. Antithesis: Contrasts expressed anger (with a friend) and suppressed anger (with a foe).
  2. Rhyme Scheme: AABB pattern in each quatrain.
  3. Imagery: Vivid descriptions like "sunned it with smiles" and "apple bright" appeal to the senses.
  4. Repetition: The word "wrath" is repeated to emphasize growing anger.
  5. Irony: The speaker's nurtured anger kills the foe, fulfilling revenge but with ambiguous satisfaction.
  6. Juxtaposition: Pairs positive actions like "watering" with the negative emotion of anger.
  7. Alliteration: Instances like "soft deceitful wiles" and "watered it in fears" create rhythm and emphasis.

Poetic Devices in "A Poison Tree"

by William Blake Explained

  1. Metaphor: o The central metaphor of the poem compares the speaker’s growing anger to the growth of a tree. The "tree" represents the festering of anger, and the "apple" symbolizes the culmination of that anger in the form of revenge or destruction.
  2. Extended Metaphor: o The entire poem functions as an extended metaphor where the anger is metaphorically nurtured like a plant that grows into a tree bearing a poisonous apple.
  3. Personification: o Anger is personified throughout the poem, especially in lines like "I watered it in fears" and "I sunned it with smiles." This gives human qualities to emotions, showing how anger is tended to and cultivated like a living thing.
  4. Symbolism: o The Tree: Represents the growing hatred and malice in the speaker’s heart. o The Apple: Symbolizes the culmination of the speaker's wrath, echoing the biblical allusion to the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. o The Garden: Symbolizes the mind or the internal emotional world of the speaker, where emotions are "grown" and concealed.
  5. Allusion: o The apple and the garden are references to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, where the apple represents temptation and sin. Blake uses this allusion to draw parallels between the original sin and the speaker's concealed anger.
  1. Antithesis: o The first stanza contrasts two reactions to anger: one resolved through communication with a friend and the other left to fester in silence with a foe. This creates a clear opposition between the two scenarios, highlighting the consequences of each. o Example: "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."
  2. Rhyme Scheme: o The poem follows a simple AABB rhyme scheme in each quatrain. This gives the poem a sing-song quality, which contrasts with the dark theme of anger and revenge.
  3. Imagery: o Blake uses vivid imagery throughout the poem, particularly in lines such as "I sunned it with smiles" and "it bore an apple bright." These images appeal to the senses, evoking both the nurturing process of the tree and the allure of the apple.
  4. Repetition: o The word "wrath" is repeated in the first stanza, emphasizing the contrast between expressed and repressed anger. The repetition reinforces the idea that unresolved anger grows and becomes more dangerous.
  5. Irony: o The speaker nurtures anger toward the foe, which eventually leads to the foe’s demise, but the speaker remains unharmed. The irony lies in the fact that the speaker’s desire for revenge is fulfilled, yet the ultimate satisfaction and moral implications are left ambiguous.
  6. Juxtaposition: o Blake juxtaposes emotions like fear and deceit with nurturing and growth. The seemingly positive acts of watering and tending to the tree are actually nurturing something destructive.
  7. Alliteration: o There are subtle instances of alliteration in the poem, such as "soft deceitful wiles" and "watered it in fears," adding a rhythmic flow and emphasizing the key emotions in the poem. By combining these devices, Blake creates a layered and complex poem that addresses the destructive nature of repressed anger through metaphor, symbolism, and imagery, while maintaining a simple structure and rhyme.