A POISON TREE

by William Blake
LINE STANZA 1 LINE-BY-LINE MEANING

1 I was angry with my friend I was angry with my friend

2 I told my wrath, my wrath did I told my anger (wrath) to my friend and I got over my anger
end
3 I was angry with my foe I was angry with my enemy (foe)
4 I told it not, my wrath did grow I did not tell my anger(wrath) to my foe, so my anger grew

STANZA 2 MEANING

1 And watered it in fears, I treated my anger like a plant. Plants need water and sunshine.
2 night and morning with my fears Likewise, I nourished my anger(wrath) with water(tears and fears)
3 And I sunned it with my smiles I also gave my anger-tree sunshine in form of smiles and cunning
4 And with a soft deceitful wiles tricks.

STANZA 3 MEANING

1 And it grew both day and night My tree of anger grew steadily every day
2 Till it bore an apple bright until it bore a fruit (an apple)..outside it was shiny but poisonous..
3 And my foe beheld it shine My enemy saw my shinny apple
4 And he knew that it was mine And he knew it was mine

STANZA 4 MEANING

1 And into my garden stole
2 When the night had veiled the
pole
3 In the morning glad I see
4 My foe outstretched beneath the
tree
My foe crept into my garden to steal my apple
One night, in the darkness
In the morning, I was happy
To see my enemy lying dead under the tree

MEANING

STANZA 1

-The poet is not only expressing his anger towards his friend as well as his
foe/ENEMY but he has also depicted the difference between two types of anger.
-He states that when you are angry with a friend, you convince your heart to
forgive him.
-Even though you are hurt and you know that he did injustice to you, you try your
best to forget the past and end the feeling.
- when you are angry with an enemy, it takes ages for you to calm your anger. Yet,
the anger and the feeling of vengeance do not diminish, even with time.
STANZA 2
-The poet is making a confession that it is he, who is solely responsible for the hatred that has grown in
his heart for his enemy.
-It is he, who has increased the vengeance in his heart.
- He has nurtured the hatred with his fears, spending hours together, crying for the ill that has been caused
to him by his enemy.
-He has also nurtured the hatred with his sarcastic smiles, imagining ill and cursing his enemy to go
through the same or worse sufferings that he has been through.
STANZA 3
-The poet states that it is because of his dwelling in the same hatred, that it has grown every day.
-The hatred gave birth to an apple.
-The fruit signifies the evil that has taken birth in the heart of the poet.
-He states that he has now come to a point from where he cant turn back and forget about his
enemy, until he does something to soothe his vengeance.
STANZA 4
-Finally, the day comes when the poets enemy has met the evil fruit of vengeance, that he has
grown with his fears, tears and sarcasm.
-The fruit has now turned into a weapon. When the enemy confronts with this anger, it is time for
the weapon to serve the purpose that it has been made for.
And, so the poet states, the very next morning, the purpose is served.
When the poet wakes up and glimpses in the garden, he sees something that relaxes his mind
and calms his vengeance forever.
The darkness of the night acted like an invisible cloak for the poet. Now, it is a beautiful
morning.
There he is; his enemy, dead under the tree of his hatred.
He bit the poisoned apple of his vengeance. He is murdered.