'The poison tree' GCSE language analysis.
In “A Poison Tree,” by William Blake is a central metaphor explains a truth of human nature. This poem teaches how anger can be extinguished by goodwill or nurtured to become a deadly poison. It is appropriate that poems with religious connotations should be expressed like this in which a spiritual struggle is expressed in a vivid story. The opening stanza sets up everything for the entire poem, from the ending of anger with the “friend,” to the continuing anger with the “foe.” Blake startles the reader with the clarity of the poem, and with metaphors that can apply to many instances of life such as ‘I told it not, my wrath did grow’. This is a classic example of human psychology as we are always tempted to do the opposite of what we are told.
The anger is presented as his “wrath” and personified as a twisted part of his subconscious. In the first stanza this wrath is unwanted and the speaker seems to be irritated or frustrated with it “I told it not, my wrath did grow” This tells us that his anger is beyond his control yet he still tries to rein it in for the sake of his foe. As the poem progresses the speaker tries less and less to control his anger and accepts it as a part of him and this suggests that it results in his foes’ death or injury. “In the morning glad I see, my foe stretched out beneath the tree”. The use of the word ‘glad’ tells us that he is taking pleasure in his enemy’s death and also makes him seem quite twisted and deranged and this shows the reader a significant progression of the speakers mental stability.
The speakers’ perspective on his own anger also changes throughout the poem. It goes from being a hindrance to being described as something pleasant ; “It bore an apple bright” It is as if his anger is a fruitful tree and the ‘apple’ is his murderous deed, so he is giving into his fury and is pleased at this ‘growth’ in a bid to hurt his foe. Blake also uses the word ‘bright’ and yet one would think that such feelings would be dark or
The anger is presented as his “wrath” and personified as a twisted part of his subconscious. In the first stanza this wrath is unwanted and the speaker seems to be irritated or frustrated with it “I told it not, my wrath did grow” This tells us that his anger is beyond his control yet he still tries to rein it in for the sake of his foe. As the poem progresses the speaker tries less and less to control his anger and accepts it as a part of him and this suggests that it results in his foes’ death or injury. “In the morning glad I see, my foe stretched out beneath the tree”. The use of the word ‘glad’ tells us that he is taking pleasure in his enemy’s death and also makes him seem quite twisted and deranged and this shows the reader a significant progression of the speakers mental stability.
The speakers’ perspective on his own anger also changes throughout the poem. It goes from being a hindrance to being described as something pleasant ; “It bore an apple bright” It is as if his anger is a fruitful tree and the ‘apple’ is his murderous deed, so he is giving into his fury and is pleased at this ‘growth’ in a bid to hurt his foe. Blake also uses the word ‘bright’ and yet one would think that such feelings would be dark or