“A Poison Tree” written by William Blake in 1757-1827 tells a tale of a man who withholds from expressing his anger and vengeance which eventually turns into the murder of his foe some individuals interpret this poem to be depicting Christianity and the love of God. The theme of anger and vengeance is expressed by the way the writer, William Blake, conveys the speaker’s feelings with the use of imagery, figurative language, and tone. From the very first line in this poem to the last the use of imagery was evident. In the first two lines, when the speaker said “I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end” (Blake 1-2) the image of a two individuals conversing happily comes to mind. While in lines 3 and 4 the image of a male …show more content…
A metaphor becomes evident in the second quatrain, since the metaphor can be a certain thing but mean another the use of “it” refers to the speaker’s anger, “but he speaks of his wrath not as if it were an emotion, which it is, but as if it were a small plant” (Hacht and Milne 2) which continues to be referred to as a plant till the death foe beneath the tree. In the third quatrain an allusion to the bible chapter Genesis, “forbidden Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden” is made. This allusion is followed out with the shiny apple the tree bore out of hate which the foe held in admiration. “The fruit seems as if it would offer a world of good, but in the Juedo-Christian story, it actually offers a world of woe” (Hacht and Milne 2) as any individual whether believer or nonbeliever knows the apple refers to the apple that Adam and Eve consumed which resulted to God abandoning them to suffer the life as a mortal and to live on their own till their perished for consuming the forbidden fruit. As a result, “A Poison Tree” a “poem using a metaphor becomes a metaphor (Hacht and Milne 2) which continued to confirm the theme that anger and vengeance will continue to grow unless something, in this case death, is done to resolve the
There are multiple examples of visual imagery in this poem. An example of a simile is “curled like a possum within the hollow trunk”. The effect this has is the way it creates an image for the reader to see how the man is sleeping. An example of personification is, “yet both belonged to the bush, and now are one”. The result this has is how it creates an emotion for the reader to feel
Abstract: William Blake's Songs of Innocence contains a group of poetic works that the artist conceptualized as entering into a dialogue with each other and with the works in his companion work, Songs of Experience. He also saw each of the poems in Innocence as operating as part of an artistic whole creation that was encompassed by the poems and images on the plates he used to print these works. While Blake exercised a fanatical degree of control over his publications during his lifetime, after his death his poems became popular and were encountered without the contextual material that he intended to accompany them.
Within "A Poison Tree" the poet makes the accusation that if treating enemy as though they were a friend, there would be no anger to hold onto. "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." (Poison 1-4) The central theme of this poem concludes with that the bearer of hate is only weakened and the foe is able to gain solace and comfort from the misfortune of the person they wronged.
In the short story of “ The Cask of Amontillado” written by Edgar Allen Poe and the poem” A Poison Tree” by William Blake a theme about revenge is used for both the story and the poem. The theme that is used is when anger is nurtured it can turn into a poisonous revenge. To develop the themes of revenge, both writings both the authors used dramatic irony and sensory details.
This is taken as the speaker allowed his wrath and anger to their foe grow and develop into a seed of revenge, illustrated as the apple on this tree grow with hate. The foe recognizes this apple as a tangible reincarnation of the speaker's desire for revenge and it is understood that through some manner this apple kills the foe and the speaker is glad that it has done so, showing no remorse. This is seen in the lines “In the morning I was glad to see;/ My foe outstretched beneath the tree”. The speaker's reaction to the death has an effect on the theme because although the speaker has killed someone he has no
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
Blake had an uncanny ability to use his work to illustrate the unpleasant and often painful realities around him. His poetry consistently embodies an attitude of revolt against the abuse of class and power that appears guided by a unique brand of spirituality. His spiritual beliefs reached outside the boundaries of religious elites loyal to the monarchy. “He was inspired by dissident religious ideas rooted in the thinking of the most radical opponents of the monarchy during the English Civil War “(E. P. Thompson). Concern with war and the blighting effects of the industrial revolution were displayed in much of his work.
The personification in “A Poison Tree” exists both as a means by which the poem's metaphors are revealed, supported, and as a way for Blake to forecast the greater illustration of the wrath. The wrath the speaker feels is not directly personified as a tree, but as something that grows slowly and bears fruit. In the opening stanza the speaker states, “My wrath did grow.” The speake...
“Then the Lord God said, “behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”” (New American Standard Bible, Gen. 3:22). The poem “A Poison Tree” by William Blake completes a full circle around the story of the fall of man in the book of Genesis incorporating how the human nature functions. Blake uses metaphors, allusions and diction to tell his views on the subject of human nature and God, and conveys his message more clearly through the rhyme scheme, meter and simplicity of the poem overall. “A Poison Tree” is showing how when one manifests anger in one’s heart it grows into a desire for death, and through one’s conniving tricks one can lure in a foe into trusting resulting in a demise.
In several poems found in Songs of Experience and Innocence Blake presents the church, as well as religion, as corrupt and damaging to the innocence and purity of youth’s souls. The poe...
Imagery is one of the many ways Edgar Allen Poe used to convey his message. At the beginning of the poem, the reader can instantly recognize imagery. A man is sitting in his study trying to distract himself from the sadness of a woman who has left him.
Along with the imagery we get from the title, there is a lot of imagery within this poem. Let us start with the first three lines:
The imagery of nature and humanity intermingling presents Blake's opinion on the inborn, innate harmony between nature and man. The persona of the poem goes on to express the `gentle streams beneath our feet' where `innocence and virtue meet'. This is where innocence dwells: synchronization with nature, not synchronization with industry where `babes are reduced to misery, fed with a cold usurous hand' as in the experienced version of `Holy Thursday'. The concept of the need for the individual's faithfulness to the laws of nature and what is natural is further reiterated in `the marriage of heaven and hell' in plate 10 where Blake states `where man is not, nature is barren'. The most elevated form of nature is human nature and when man resists and consciously negates nature, `nature' becomes `barren'. Blake goes on to say `sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires'. This harks back to `the Songs of Innocence' `A Cradle Song' where the `infants smiles are his own smiles'. The infant is free to act out its desires as it pleases. It is unbound, untainted. Blake's concern is for the pallid and repressed, subjugated future that awaits the children who must `nurse unacted desires' and emotions in this new world of industrialisation. Despairingly, this is restated again in `the mind-forg'd manacles' of `London'. The imagery of the lambs of the `Songs of Innocence' `Introduction' is developed in `the Chimney Sweeper' into the image of `Little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, that curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd'.
Another rhetorical strategy incorporated in the poem is imagery. There are many types of images that are in this poem. For example, the story that the young girl shares with the boy about drowning the cat is full of images for the reader to see:
When one looks at the title, “ A Poison Tree” one can assume the poem is going to be about some sort of fauna. When the reader goes on to read the poem in its entirety, one sees “ A Poison Tree” is simply a symbolic title. The poem begins with someone telling of his wrath for a friend. He had once told a friend why he was mad at or angry with him. When he spoke to the friend, the irritation went away. In another instance, he was also angry with his enemy. He had never told his enemy basically that he held him with the title of “enemy” and his angst or hate for him grew. The poem takes on an “AA, BB” end rhyme scheme in that a sentence (in a group of two) will rhyme with the next.