ABOUT THE POET

William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet, painter and printmaker. He was also an accomplished engraver. He married Catherine Boucher in 1782 and his married life was a successful one. They were blessed with six children. Blake is one of the greatest visionaries of the early Romantic Age. His notable works are Songs of Experience, The Four Zoey and Milton which have popular poems like The Lamb, 'The Tyler' and 'Jerusalem Blake was not recognized as a poet during his lifetime. He did not receive any rewards. But today the Blake Prize is awarded to artists in his honor.

OVERVIEW OF THE POEM

A Poison Tree' was published in 1794 in Blake's poetry collection, Songs of Experience. The original title suggested by Blake was Christian Forbearance. This simple poem speaks about the tendency of human nature of keeping an outer pretense of calmness while anger seethes in the mind. I highlight the need to discard suffocating emotions such as anger, which continue to grow every day if nurtured inside the mind.

The poet tells us how, when he expressed his anger to his friend, he got rid of it, but the anger for his enemy that he kept within himself grew into a tree. This is an extended metaphor. He watered his wrath with tears, sunned it with smiles and allowed it to grow into a poison tree. The apple of this poisonous tree was consumed by his greedy enemy, and it led to his death.

       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 water it in fears,

Night & morning with my tears:

And I sunned it with smiles. And with soft deceitful wiles.

Till it bore an apple bright.

And it grew both day and night. And he knew that it was mine.

And my foe beheld it shine,

And into my garden stole,

When the night had veiled the pole;

In the morning glad I see;

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Extended Metaphor

As the speaker does not expose his anger towards his enemy, it grows into a poison tree. He waters it in fears and sunned it with fake smile. Eventually, the anger blossoms into a poisoned fruit. The enemy eats the fruit and dies. The speaker is glad over the death of his enemy. Here, the poet expresses the destructive nature of anger against his foe. He leaves us a message that we can easily overcome our anger if we communicate it properly. Anger can be dismissed by kindness.

Moral Lesson

We learn a moral lesson from the poem "A Poison Tree". The speaker's treatment of anger with his friend is entirely different from his foe. He expresses his anger openly to his friend, and so it has come to an end. It further paves way for the friendship to grow. On the contrary, the suppressed anger towards his enemy grows into a poisonous tree and ends the life of his enemy. The speaker is not aware of the consequences of his terrible suppressed anger. The moral of the poem is that we should not suppress our anger towards another person but confront the person who hurts us and admit our issues directly.