A Poison Tree Notes

Prepared by: Porshothman Elenggoven Form 5 Literature - Poem

A POISON TREE by William Blake Stanza 1 Lin e 1 2 3 4

Stanza 1

Line by line meaning

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

I was angry with my friend I told my wrath(anger) to my friend and I got over my anger. I was angry with my foe (enemy) I did not tell my wrath to my foe, so my anger grew.

Stanza 2 Lin e 1

Stanza 1

Line by line meaning

And I watered it in fears.

2

Night and morning with my tears And I sunned it with smiles. And with soft deceitful wiles.

I treated my anger like a plant. A plant needs water and sunshine. Likewise, everyday I nourished my wrath with water in the form of tears and fears. I also gave my anger-tree sunshine in the form of smiles and cunning tricks.

3 4

Stanza 3 Lin e 1 2

Stanza 1

Line by line meaning

And it grew both day and night Till it bore an apple bright

3 4

And my foe beheld it shine And he knew it was mine

My tree of anger grew steadily everyday until it bore an apple. It was shiny but it was poisonous. My enemy saw the shiny apple and he knew it was mine.

Stanza 4 Lin e 1 2 3 4

Stanza 1

Line by line meaning

And into my garden stole When the night had veiled the pole In the morning glad I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree

One night, when darkness hid the pole star, my foe crept into the garden. He stole my apple. In the morning, I was happy to see my foe lying dead under the tree.

Prepared by: Porshothman Elenggoven Form 5 Literature - Poem

Themes: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Forgiving and forgetting The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding. The dangers of repressing anger Dangers of wrath and hatred.

iThink

Write four suitable adjectives to describe the person and the persona’s poison tree in the poem.

The persona

The persona’s poison tree

HOTS LET’S DISCUSS ABOUT YOUR ENEMY! Think about one of your enemies. Why do you consider them as your enemy? How did you treat them? Share it with the class!