A Poison tree is a poem written in 1794 by the famous poet William Blake as a part of his collection of poems, Songs of Experience. Although it is one of Blake's less known poems, it is full of meaning and is often considered to be one of his finest poems.

The Poem

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

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,

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

Analysis

First Quatrain

The speaker was angry with his friend, but released the grudge after speaking with the aforementioned friend. When the speaker was angry with his enemy and did not inform him, he remained angry. This shows that anger is only maintained if you do not attempt to resolve it. It also shows how people categorize their fellows as 'friends' or 'foes', and how this affects their behaviour towards individuals in each category.

Second Quatrain

The speaker begins to make his anger grow and takes pleasure in it, comparing his anger with a small plant. The speaker is creating a trap for his enemy by creating an illusion of friendliness.

Third Quatrain

The speaker's wrath begins to 'bear fruit' and produces something terrible yet tempting. This can be compared to story of the Garden of Eden. The Fruit of Knowledge seems 'good' at first, but turns out to be something for which Eve was punished. Likewise, the speaker seems friendly towards his foe, but is hiding malicious intentions.

Fourth Quatrain

The poet begins to speed up the poem to the climax. When the foe saw the apple “shine”, the audience becomes aware that he has fallen for the trap. When the foe stole into the speaker's garden, he was again fooled by the speaker. Then, the foe breaks in when the Pole is veiled (meaning that the Pole star is veiled, signifying nighttime). When the speaker says that his foe was outstretched under the tree, it could be read that:

the foe had consumed the poison and died, pleasing the speaker
the foe is just lying beneath the tree, and has realized the speaker's hostile intentions

However this second interpretation is far less likely given Blake's original imagery: http://www.metmuseum.org/special/William_Blake/19.L.htm

Interpretations

William Blake was an English Dissenter and Dissenter members broke away from the Anglican Church and refused to take part in its policies. Dissenters believed that the ideals and policies of the Anglican Church were wrong and so opposed it in nearly every aspect. Blake began writing a collection of poems called Songs of Experience to protest the Anglican Church's policy of stifling "sinful" emotions in people, such as anger. A Poison Tree is a good example of this because it shows how Blake believed that stifling anger would only cause the anger to grow. In fact, Blake even decided to call the original draft of a Poison Tree, "Christian Forebearance." However, the English government did not tolerate the radical actions of the English Dissenters and they persecuted them. In order to escape persecution, Blake had to make his message symbolic.

The poem has been set to music several times including by Greg Brown and Blur. In the B-Side to Blur's single "Girls and Boys", "Magpie", the lyrics are the poem.

References

Heims, Neil. “A Poison Tree: William Blake 1794.” Novelguide.com. 2006. Novelguide.com. 18 March 2009. <http://www.novelguide.com/a/discover/pfs_0000_0024_0/pfs_0000_0024_0_00023.html>.