A Poison Tree – Unseen Poetry

‘How does the speaker present his feelings about holding grudges’?

The poet uses 1st person to describe the experience, perhaps to emphasise how personal the issue
was and how hurtful and cut throat the betrayal of his foe was to him, heavily implying that he
would hold grudges for a long time as this is so important to him and close to his internal issues.

The poet uses a rhyming structure of AABB to emphasise the disassociation and isolation the
narrator could be feeling. In the first rhyming couplets, he almost always describes himself and his
own feelings about the situation. However, in the second rhyming couplets, the narrator generally
talks about his “foe” and what they have to him. This could be used to emphasise the contrast
between the two people and their feelings. However, this consistent pattern, may also be implying
that he is restricted and has to contain his emotions when talking about his enemy. It could also be
an attempt to portray the speakers frame of mind – one that is organised and disciplined, something
that’s potentially reflective on his own feelings and grudges, as he is likely to remember and retain
all the pain he’s experienced. This could be further shown through the simplicity of the 4 line stanzas
– neatly separating his ideas. Although, this could also be a representation of how he distances his
emotions and feelings from his thoughts and external reality – implying that he wouldn’t hold
grudges due to the external ramifications it may cause; however this view is very contradictory to
the poem.

The poet also uses and alternating rhythm: the 1st and 3rd lines are a trochaic rhythm but the 2nd and
4th lines are iambic rhythms. This is a clearly a deliberate juxtaposition and contrast throughout the
poem, emphasising not only the conflict the speaker has with his foe, but the internal conflict within
himself about the situation and its consequences. There is also enjambment in the 1 st and 3rd lines of
the 4th stanza. This could be to emphasise the rhythm in this section, particularly since the topic is
quite different from the rest of the poem. It could also have been used to drag out the stanza, and
slow down the pace to increase tension and reflect the mental state of the speaker, in that his mind
is slowing down and remembering the deceit from his enemy and holding the grudge from long ago.

The poet also uses Christian imagery throughout the poem. Even the title “A Poison Tree” has clear
connotations and symbolism to the garden of Eden. This could be to represent the fall of man in
reference to the ‘original sin’ and giving to temptation and evil, as the poet does here in response to
his foe. It could also have been used to portray the betrayal the speaker feels from his enemy such
that his enemy has eaten an “apple”, and betrayed everything the writer created. This is further
demonstrated when the speaker says “he knew that it was mine”, portraying the deliberate deceit
and betrayal his enemy did against him, much how Adam and Eve knew that the apple tree was
forbidden. However, it could also be used to show he feels like a God, through the use of this
Christian imagery. The speaker writes about how her “watered” in fears throughout “night and
morning” and “sunned” with smiles. This could be a direct reference to the 7 days mentioned in the
bible and how God created the sun, the sea, night, and morning and could also be a glance and
perceived impression of how egotistical the speaker is, and therefore how hurt and betrayed he
would have felt, implying that he would hold incredibly strong grudges, which is quite contradictory
to a first view of the Christian symbolism. However the imagery could also be used to mirror the
Noah’s Ark incident where God flooded a village and created the rainbow as a promise to never do it
again, because the village had faced God’s “wrath” for being selfish and betraying him. This
extremely similar to the speakers viewpoint, and he could be making this reference to justify his
feelings, his grudges, and the ultimate ending of death.