“A Poison Tree” Introduction

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“A Poison Tree” Summary

“A Poison Tree” Themes

• 

  Anger and Suppressed Emotion

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “A Poison Tree”

• Lines 1-2

  I was angry with my friend; 
  I told my wrath, my wrath did end. 

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 3-4

  I was angry with my foe: 
  I told it not, my wrath did grow. 

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 5-8

  And I waterd it in fears, 
  Night & morning with my tears: 
  And I sunned it with smiles, 
  And with soft deceitful wiles. 

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 9-10

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

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-14

  And my foe beheld it shine, 
  And he knew that it was mine. 
  And into my garden stole, 
  When the night had veild the pole; 

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 15-16

  In the morning glad I see; 
  My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

  

  

  

  

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“A Poison Tree” Symbols

• 

  The Apple

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“A Poison Tree” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Anaphora

  

  

  

  

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• Extended Metaphor

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Epizeuxis

  

  

  

  

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• Polysyndeton

  

  

  

  

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• Sibilance

  

  

  

  

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“A Poison Tree” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Wrath
• Sunned
• Wiles
• Beheld
• Stole
• Pole

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “A Poison Tree”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“A Poison Tree” Speaker

“A Poison Tree” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “A Poison Tree”

More “A Poison Tree” Resources

• External Resources

  • Blake's Poison Trees — An article exploring possible influences on the poem.

  • Songs of Innocence and Experience — Full text of the book in which "A Poison Tree" appears.

  • Blake's Visual Representation of the Poem — The poem as it originally appeared, with Blake's own illustration.

  • Blake's Radicalism — A clip in which author Iain Sinclair discusses Blake's political views.

  • Britten's "A Poison Tree" — A musical setting of the poem by English composer Benjamin Britten.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by William Blake

  • A Dream

  • Ah! Sun-flower

  • Earth's Answer

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Experience)

  • Holy Thursday (Songs of Innocence)

  • Infant Joy

  • Infant Sorrow

  • Introduction (Songs of Innocence)

  • London

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Experience)

  • Nurse's Song (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Experience)

  • The Chimney Sweeper (Songs of Innocence)

  • The Clod and the Pebble

  • The Divine Image

  • The Ecchoing Green

  • The Fly

  • The Garden of Love

  • The Human Abstract

  • The Lamb

  • The Little Black Boy

  • The Little Vagabond

  • The School Boy

  • The Sick Rose

  • The Tyger

  • To Autumn

  • To the Evening Star