CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON POETRY

I.

TITLE:

A POISON TREE

II.

AUTHROR:

William Blake

III.

BRIEF BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHOR

Born November 28, 1757
– London, England

Died August 12, 1827
- London, England

•

Early years
– Began his artistic career at 10 years old when his father sent him to the best drawing school in England
– Apprenticed to an engraver at 14

•

Adult life
– Always worked as an engraver and professional artist
– Was very poor, especially later in life
– Always felt rich in spirit

IV.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

A Poison Tree
BY WILLIAM BLAKE
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.
And I watered it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

HYPERBOLE

And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.

PERSONIFICATION
HYPERBOLE/Symbolizes Sin/Wrath

And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

V.

Symbolizes of Innocence
Symbolizes Anger
Symbolizes Experience
PERSONIFICATION

Allusion of Garden of Eden
PERSONIFICATION

METAPHOR
METAPHOR

MESSAGE
STANZA 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
As stated in the first line, the persona said that if he is mad to his friend he will tell it and he will immediately feel good but if he is mad to someone who is not a friend, he will consider it as an enemy. He will keep his bad feeling and will last or continue STANZA 2:
And I watered it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
It is pertaining to the wrath of madness which is personified like a plant that has a capacity to grow. The persona personifies the fear of being harmed by his foe or enemy as if it is a water that supports a plant to grow. He also personifies smiles like a sun that shines over the plant for it to grow. A smile of deception pretending to be good when his enemy is around.

STANZA 3:
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
The persona narrates how his bad feelings grow. He made an evil plan through the symbol of apple which is the same fruit that made Adam and Eve the first sinners in the bible.
STANZA 4:
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Until the day came when he executed his evil plan. The enemy of the persona tastes his wrath unexpectedly. The word outstretched suggests death for it means far beyond the usual.
VI.

THEME
The poem is about anger. It’s about the things we cultivate when we hide it or avoid to deal with by telling it to the person who is responsible for bringing you that feeling. It may also be about lies and deception.
Few things people do when they are mad. They appear to be good when deep inside they are not. It is a manifestation of deception and a form of lying by omission.

VII.

APPRECIATION
This poem reminds me of a Filipino saying “Ang pagsasabi ng tapat ay pagsasama ng maluwag”. Though the latter is all about being honest, it branches out new idea for me which is to be honest with your feeling. When you feel bad then let it transpire through your words and through your actions or better yet by telling it to the person responsible for that anger not for the purpose of provoking him/her but letting him/her know how you feel and what he/she can do about it. when people talk about things and exert effort to repair broken relations they could have that so called“Pagsasama ng maluwag” or ease of everything.