A Poison Tree by William Blake

A Poison Tree by William Blake
Stanza 1
I was angry with my friend: (line 1)

I told my wrath, my wrath did end. (line 2)
I was angry with my foe: (line 3)
I told it not, my wrath did grow. (line 4)
Stanza 2
And I watered it in fears, (line 1)

Night and morning with my tears; (line 2)
And I sunned it with smiles, (line 3)
And with soft deceitful wiles. (line 4)
Stanza 3
And it grew both day and night, (line 1)

Till it bore an apple bright;(line 2)
And my foe beheld it shine, (line 3)
And he knew that it was mine, (line 4)
Stanza 4
And into my garden stole (line 1)

When the night had veiled the pole: (line 2)
In the morning glad I see (line 3)
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.(line 4)
Line by line Meaning
Stanza 1- I had a misunderstanding with my friend and was angry. I told my friend about my
wrath. I got over my anger and forgot it. But when I got angry with my foe, I didn't tell him
about it. I bottled up my wrath and it intensified. It grew and grew like a plant.
Stanza 2- My anger grew like a tree. I nourished my anger-tree with anger, suspicion and
hatred. I was suspicious of my foe and I was angry with him. But I tricked him to bring him
closer to me. Outwardly, I smiled and I was friendly to gain his trust.
Stanza 3- My "tree" was poisonous because it was full of anger, hatred and suspicion. Later,
it bore a shiny poison apple. My foe saw it and knew it was mine.
Stanza 4- One night when there were no stars, my foe came into my garden and stole my
poison apple. He fell into my trap. He ate the apple and died. In the morning, I was happy to
see him lying dead under my poison tree.
Summary of the Poem
In this poem, the persona is angry after a misunderstanding with his friend and his foe. He
talks about the misunderstanding with his friend and gets over his anger. But he doesn't talk
about his anger to his foe, so his anger increases and grows into an anger-plant.
The persona treats his growing anger like a growing plant. He feeds the seed of his "plant"
with anger and hatred. He waters it with doubt, suspicion and hatred and he nourishes it with
fake sunshine. He gives his anger-plant "smiles" and "deceitful wiles". Outwardly, the
persona smiles and is friendly to his foe so that he will trust him and be close to him. He is
scheming to trick and trap his foe. His increasing anger and hatred grows into a poison tree.
The poison is actually the persona's wrath and hatred for his foe.
Then the persona becomes spiteful, revengeful and murderous as his anger and hatred
intensify. He plots to kill his foe and his devious plan works when his poison tree bears a
deadly poison apple. The persona's foe sees it and is tempted to eat it. One dark night, he
sneaks into the persona's garden and steals his poison apple. Then he eats it and dies. The
next morning, the persona is happy to see him lying dead under his poison tree.
Setting
 Place - in his garden , under the poison tree
 Time - in the darkness of the night , the next morning
Tone
Anger, bitterness and maliciousness- The persona is extremely angry with his foe. As his
anger intensifies, he becomes scheming and murderous. In Stanza 4, the tone is
also accusing. The persona accuses his foe of stealing his apple in his garden at night.
Themes and Moral Values

1. The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding-
When there is a misunderstanding, we should talk about it to resolve our differences.
2. Harbouring ill feelings against someone- We shouldn't harbour ill feelings
against anyone.
3. Forgiving and forgetting- When there is a misunderstanding, we must
forgive and forget.
4. Bottling up ill feelings- Bottling up ill feelings is bad for us and those around
us.
Word vs Meaning
 wrath ~ extreme anger

 foe ~ enemy
 watered ~ poured water on plants
 sunned ~ provided sunshine
 deceitful ~ dishonest behaviour to make people believe things which are not true
 wiles ~ clever tricks a person uses to get what he wants
 bore ~ produced fruit
 beheld ~ looked at or saw
 veiled ~ covered with something to hide something partly or completely
 pole ~ the Pole star which is the star that is above the North Pole in the sky
A Poison Tree by William Blake
Line by line Meaning
POEM MEANING
Stanza 1
I was angry with my friend: (line 1)

I told my wrath, my wrath did end. (line 2)
I was angry with my foe: (line 3)
I told it not, my wrath did grow. (line 4)
Stanza 2
And I watered it in fears, (line 1)

Night and morning with my tears; (line 2)
And I sunned it with smiles, (line 3)
And with soft deceitful wiles. (line 4)
Stanza 3
And it grew both day and night, (line 1)

Till it bore an apple bright;(line 2)
And my foe beheld it shine, (line 3)
And he knew that it was mine, (line 4)
Stanza 4
And into my garden stole (line 1)

When the night had veiled the pole: (line 2)
In the morning glad I see (line 3)
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.(line 4)
Summary of the Poem
In this poem, the persona is ____________ after a misunderstanding with his friend and his
________. He talks about the misunderstanding with his friend and gets over his
__________. But he doesn't talk about his anger to his foe, so his anger increases and
____________ into an anger-plant.
The persona treats his growing anger like a growing plant. He feeds the seed of his "plant"
with anger and __________. He waters it with doubt, ____________ and hatred and he
nourishes it with _______ sunshine. He gives his anger-plant "smiles" and "deceitful wiles".
Outwardly, the persona smiles and is ___________ to his foe so that he will __________
him and be ________ to him. He is scheming to trick and _________ his foe. His increasing
anger and hatred grows into a __________ tree. The poison is actually the persona's wrath
and hatred for his foe.
Then the persona becomes spiteful, ____________ and murderous as his anger and hatred
intensify. He plots to __________ his foe and his devious plan works when his poison tree
bears a deadly poison ___________. The persona's foe sees it and is tempted to _______
it. One dark night, he _________ into the persona's garden and steals his poison apple.
Then he eats it and _________. The next morning, the persona is _______ to see him
__________ dead under his poison tree.

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A Poison Tree by William Blake

I was angry with my friend: (line 1)

And I watered it in fears, (line 1)

And it grew both day and night, (line 1)

And into my garden stole (line 1)

Line by line Meaning

Summary of the Poem

Themes and Moral Values

 wrath ~ extreme anger

I was angry with my friend: (line 1)

And I watered it in fears, (line 1)

And it grew both day and night, (line 1)

And into my garden stole (line 1)

Summary of the Poem

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