A Poison Tree

William Blake

Answer the following questions in a sentence or two.

1. I was angry with my friend

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

a. Whom does ‘I’ refer to?

‘I’ refers to the poet.

b. How did the anger of the poet come to an end?

The poet told the reason of his anger to his friend. The anger came to an end.

2. And I watered it in fears

Night and morning with my tears;

a. What does ‘it’ refer to?

It refers to anger

b. How is ‘it’ watered?

It is watered with fears and tears

3. In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree

a. How did the poet feel in the morning?

The poet was very glad in the morning.

b. Who is the ‘foe’ referred to here?

Foe refers to the poet’s enemy.

c. Why was the ‘foe’ found lying outstretched beneath the tree?

The foe ate the apple from the poison tree of anger and so fell on the ground outstretched.

4. And it grew both day and night,

Till it bore an apple bright.

a. What does ‘it’ refer to?

It refers to the poison tree (anger).

b. What does ‘apple’ signify?

‘Apple’ signifies a poisonous fruit grown out of anger.

c. What grew both day and night?

The poison tree grew both day and night.

Complete the summary by filling in the given spaces with suitable words.

Once the poet was angry with his friend. He expressed his anger and it ended. They became friends. But when he grew angry with his foe, he concealed it and allowed his anger to grow. Day and night he watered it with his tears and allowed it to grow. He greeted his foe with false smiles and cunning tricks. The tree kept growing and yielded a bright apple which tempted his foe to eat it stealthily during the night. The next morning the poet was happy to see his foe lying  outstretched under the tree.

Answer the following questions in about 80-100 words.

1. How did the poet’s anger with his friend end?

The poet was angry with his friend. As he happened to be his friend the poet was frank and open-hearted. He expressed the cause of his anger to his friend. Both of them spoke with open heart. They apologized to each other for their misdeeds. At once the anger and bitter feelings vanished. They smiled at each other and became as friendly as ever. This incident shows that we should not bottle up our emotions. We should give vent to our feelings. That will make us free and light-hearted because anger expressed is anger redressed.

2. Describe how his anger kept growing.

The poet was angry with his enemy. Being an enemy the poet could not express his anger openly. He kept it deep in his heart. He was afraid that if he told his wrath his enemy would harm him. So he concealed his anger. Day and night he shed tears thinking of the injustice done to him. The tree of anger took root in his heart. The poet watered the tree with his tears. Whenever he saw his enemy he greeted him with smiles and cunning tricks. These smiles and the wiles gave sunshine for the plant to grow. The poison plant of anger grew into a poison tree. It yielded an apple that was poisonous.

3. Describe the effect of the poisonous fruit on the ‘enemy’.

One day the poet’s enemy saw the bright apple in the tree. Knowing that it was in his enemy’s garden he wanted to eat it. It was night time. The sky was utterly dark. Even the pole star was not visible to the eye. The poet’s enemy entered his garden by stealth. He plucked the fruit and ate it. As it was a poisonous fruit, it killed him. He fell down under the tree with his limbs outstretched. The next morning the poet saw the dead body. He was happy to know that his enemy was dead.

Figures of Speech (Poetic Device)

There is alliteration in the line : And I sunned it with smiles.

The sound /s/ is repeated in the words ‘sunned’ and ‘smiles’.

Till it bore an apple bright.

The sound /b/ is repeated in the words ‘bore’ and ‘bright’.

Night and morning with my tears:

The sound /m/ is repeated in the words ‘morning’ and ‘my’.

Read the following lines from the poem and answer the questions that follow.

1. I was angry with my friend;

I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

I was angry with my foe

I told it not, my wrath did grow.

a. Pick out the rhyming words.

friend- end; foe- grow

b. What is the rhyme scheme of the stanza?

aabb

c. Identify the figure of speech in the title of the poem.

The figure of speech is ‘oxymoron’.

2. And I water’d it in fears

Night and morning with my tears;

a. What figure of speech is used in ‘watered it in fears’?

The figure of speech is ‘metaphor’.

Listen to the passage on ‘anger management’ and match the sentence parts by drawing a line. The recording can be played more than once if needed.

1	Meditation is definitely a great technique …….	a) who will take care of the reason why you got angry ? (4)
2	There is a person living inside you ………….	b) to know how to handle it is a virtue. (3)
3	Getting angry is natural but …………..	c) to calm your inner self. (1)
4	Anger is something that releases the tension …………	d) speak to yourself and calm yourself. (5)
5	Close your eyes and ………..	e) who always tells you how to act. (2)