Prepared by: Porshothman Elenggoven
Form 5 Literature - Poem
A POISON TREE by William Blake
Stanza 1
Line Stanza 1
1 I was angry with my friend
2 I told my wrath, my wrath did end
3 I was angry with my foe
4 I told it not, my wrath did grow
Stanza 2
Line Stanza 1
1 And I watered it in fears.
2 Night and morning with my tears
3 And I sunned it with smiles.
4 And with soft deceitful wiles.
Stanza 3
Line Stanza 1
1 And it grew both day and night
2 Till it bore an apple bright
3 And my foe beheld it shine
4 And he knew it was mine
Stanza 4
Line Stanza 1
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
Themes:
1. Forgiving and forgetting
2. The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding.
3. The dangers of repressing anger
4. Dangers of wrath and hatred.
Line by line meaning
I was angry with my friend
I told my wrath(anger) to my friend and I got over my
anger.
I was angry with my foe (enemy)
I did not tell my wrath to my foe, so my anger grew.
Line by line meaning
I treated my anger like a plant. A plant needs water and
sunshine. Likewise, everyday I nourished my wrath with
water in the form of tears and fears.
I also gave my anger-tree sunshine in the form of smiles
and cunning tricks.
Line by line meaning
My tree of anger grew steadily everyday until it bore an
apple. It was shiny but it was poisonous.
My enemy saw the shiny apple and he knew it was mine.
Line by line meaning
One night, when darkness hid the pole star, my foe crept
into the garden. He stole my apple.
In the morning, I was happy to see my foe lying dead
under the tree.
 Prepared by: Porshothman Elenggoven
Form 5 Literature - Poem
iThink
Write four suitable adjectives to describe the person and the persona’s poison tree in the poem.

The persona

The persona’s
poison tree

HOTS

LET’S DISCUSS ABOUT YOUR ENEMY!

Think about one of your enemies.

Why do you consider them as your enemy?

How did you treat them?

Share it with the class!