A poison tree Flashcards
Who wrote a poison tree?
William Blake
When was a poison tree written
1794
Provide context on William Blake as a writer
Blake was an English poet and artist, who wrote during the romanticism era. He lived in London and saw it as corrupt, full of greed and inequality, both literally and metaphorically. It was this way due to the political situation. He used his poetry to instigate change
Provide context for the poem - a poison tree -
It refers to the church’s emphasis on the suppression of emotion, which leads to the cultivation of anger
State 4 inferences from the title - a poison tree -
Indefinite article of ‘À to who’s this concept is universally applicable.
Creates a sense of juxtaposition - a tree signifies growth and poison connotes death and corruption.
Allusion to Adam and Eves temptation
Adjective of ‘poison’ could préfigure the sinister tone of the poem
State the first quote to use from a poison tree
‘ 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. ‘
Analyse X3 for the 1st quotation - ‘ 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’
‘Angry’ is the only dissyllabic word in monosyllabic ones, showing angers repetitive nature.
Anaphora of ‘ I was angry’ suggests anger is unavoidable.
The rhyming couplet of ‘friend’ and ‘end’ and ‘foe’ and ‘grow’ signifies anger is inescapable and that it can be controlled only temporarily before it outbreaks - it is all consuming.
State the 8 main themes in A poison tree
Déception
Human nature
Anger
Strong emotion
Life
Death
Corruption
Religion
State the second quote to use from a poison tree
‘Night and morning with my tears, and I stunned it with smiles, and with soft deceitful wiles’
Followed by ‘ and it grew both day and night’
Analyse x3 for the 2nd quote ‘ night and morning with my tears, and I stunned it with smiles and with soft deceitful wiles’
The rasping ‘s’ sounds creates an uneasy sibilance
The metaphor ‘night and day’ suggests anger forms at any time period.
The oxymoron ‘soft deceitful’ juxtaposes fragility and deception. Blake also appears to be the active voice when referring to he, himself ‘I Sunned it’ - active is therefore shown as active rather than passive.
State the third quote to use from a poison tree.
‘ till it bore an apple bright, and my foe behold it shine’
Analyse x3 for the 3rd quote ‘ till it bore an apple bright, and my foe behold it shine’
The adjectives ‘bright’ and ‘shine’ are most drawn to as they are synonyms of each other at the end of each verse- here, Blake manipulated the positive tropes of natural imagery, using them to present the apple as perfect and thus tempting.
The ‘apple’ could allude to the story of Adam and Eve’s temptation in the biblical story of genesis.
There is a juxtaposition of good and evil - ‘ my foe ‘ ‘bright, Shine’
State the final quote to use from a poison tree.
‘My foe outstretched beneath the tree’
Analyse x3 for the 4th quote ‘my foe outstretched beneath the tree’
The ambiguous adjective ‘outstretched’ suggests that Blake is not dead, but given the titles context and the speakers satisfaction, readers are likely to assume he’s dead.
The preposition ‘beneath’ suggests the foe is inferior to the consequences of anger and that the tree, connoting growth, defies all.
Further juxtaposition of life and death leads to readers being left with an intention of reflection on actions and their consequences.
State a structural comment about the poem ‘ a poison tree’
The parallel structure at the end of each pairs of verses illustrates the consequences of the speaker’s actions are inescapable. This creates the impression that if anger is not communicated it will subside but if it is suppressed it will undoubtedly grow.
