A Poison Tree is the first poem of the anthology and it's a great one to start with. It's about conflict, but not obvious conflict, like war - instead, its key focus is on how internal conflict can ruin a person. 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 water’d it in fears, Night and morning with my tears; And I sunned 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 veil’d the pole: In the morning glad I see My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree. -- William Blake What's It All About? Ultimately, this is a short and simple poem about anger. More specifically, it's a poem about repressing anger - bottling it up - and the consequences of doing this. What's the Point of View? The narrator seems to be a wise person who has learned the hard way what bottling up anger can do to a person. They speak of how they didn't communicate their anger and frustration, and how it then grew until it was out of control. Think About the Structure The poem is written in quatrains - four-line stanzas. Each stanza is made up of two rhyming couplets. What could this represent?
The poem's opening stanza also has a clear shift in tone - the writer opens the poem by comparing the two different ways in which they deal with a situation, dependant on who they are talking to. There is also a sense of reflection/symmetry at the end of the poem, where we come back to the poet's feelings towards their enemy. The poem is written in troachaic tetrameter - like the Witches in Macbeth - why? Perhaps the sing-song nature of the rhythm juxtaposes the severe nature of the consequences of the writer's actions. Also, what about the ending? 'My foe outstretched beneath the tree' - what does this represent? Is he dead? Is it a metaphor? Why end it here? And the Language Too The language of the poem is very simple - it's a very clear and easy-to-read poem. Many of the words only have one syllable - increasing the level of ease with which one reads it. Could this be to send a message that bottling up anger is something that we all do - regardless of age or ability? The opening lines of the poem all begin with 'I'. This reinforces the idea that the poem is a first-person perspective, and increases the intensity - this is clearly something the writer feels passionately about. As we know, it didn't end well for them... There is a repetition of 'and', which again builds intensity. Perhaps the writer wants us to see how bottling something up can 'snowball' into something worse... Imagine Other Methods Quite clearly, this poem is an extended metaphor. The writer compares his anger to a tree, one which he nourishes: 'I water'd it with fears'. Think about:
Give a Personal Response When discussing poetry, it's always important to give your opinion - evaluate the poem. You can read more on evaluation here. Using evaluative language will help you to explore the poet's intentions as opposed to just looking at the words. This is what will get you into the upper bands. When comparing poems, I like to pick out the poem I think is more effective at putting its message across, and explaining why. I think this shows that I am able to discriminate between two poems and their messages. Linked Poems
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An OverviewWe are studying the Conflict cluster from the Edexcel anthology. This exam is closed-book, so you will need to familiarise yourself with each poem's form, structure and language, in addition to how each poem is related, before the exam. ArchivesCategories
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