A poison tree Flashcards
Recall the first stanza of the poem, starting from “I was angry with…”
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.
Recall the second stanza starting from “And i watered…”
And I waterd it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
Recall the third stanza starting from “and it grew both…”
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.
Recall the fourth stanza starting from “and into my garden…”
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Why is the word ‘angry’ in the first stanza the only word non-mono syllable word (in the stanza)
To show that it is a complex emotion
What structure is the poem written in (including rhyme scheme)
- A rigid quatrain structure
- rhyming couplets (AABB)
What does the uncomplicated structure contrast with?
The complex human emotion of ‘anger’
What does the repetition of ‘my’ and ‘and’ in the first stanza show?
It shows that anger stays constant throughout the poem
What do ‘smiles’ and ‘wiles’ indicate?
The deceptive methods of entrapment
What does the use of antithesis show in line 4
The simplicity of talking about an issue (resolved in 2 lines), as opposed to the complexity of letting anger grow (14 lines)
Why is ‘stole’ an interesting choice of language in line 13
Although it had the clear meaning that an enemy had stolen under cover of darkness, it reminds the reader that it was an act of theft
The apple is a metaphor for….
revenge
What does the sibilance in ‘sunned it with smiles’’ indicate
The s sounds connotes evil, so the evil nature of anger is portrayed
What lesson does the poet try to teach in this poem?
He communicates the moral lesson to readers about the consequences of not using communication to convey feelings
Why may the tree have been used in the poem?
a tree grows, just lie how anger can grow and build up. (extended metaphor)
