ENGLISH FIRST LANGUAGE
POEM: - A POISON TREE
POEM: - A POISON TREE
WILLIAM BLAKE
II. About William Blake
Blake was born on November 28, 1757. Unlike many well-known writers of his day, Blake was born into a family of moderate means. His father, James, was a hosier, and the family lived at 28 Broad Street in London in an unpretentious but “respectable” neighborhood. In all, seven children were born to James and Catherine Harmitage Blake, but only five survived infancy. Blake seems to have been closest to his youngest brother, Robert, who died young. Poet, painter, engraver, and visionary William Blake worked to bring about a change both in the social order and in the minds of men. Though in his lifetime his work was largely neglected or dismissed, he is now considered one of the leading lights of English poetry, and his work has only grown in popularity. In his Life of William Blake (1863) Alexander Gilchrist warned his readers that Blake “neither wrote nor drew for the many, hardly for work‟ y-day men at all, rather for children and angels; himself „a divine child,‟ whose playthings were sun, moon, and stars, the heavens and the earth.” Yet Blake himself believed that his writings were of national importance and that they could be understood by a majority of his peers. Far from being an isolated mystic, Blake lived and worked in the teeming metropolis of London at a time of great social and political change that profoundly influenced his writing. In addition to being considered one of the most visionary of English poets and one of the great progenitors of English Romanticism, his visual artwork is highly regarded around the world.
V. Question & Answers
1. What is the theme of the poem "A Poison Tree"?
Ans: - Although William Blake's "A Poison Tree" is about anger, the central theme and message is about the suppression of anger. The poem argues that like a tree, anger grows if one suppresses it. The allegory within the poem emphasizes that when a person hides or denies their emotions, they will become poisoned with bitterness and more vengefulness.
2. What is the moral of the poem "A Poison Tree"?
Ans: - The moral lesson is a lesson on the dangers of holding in angry feelings about a person. When the poem begins, the narrator of the poem tells his readers that he was angry with a friend. We do not know the cause of the anger, but we know that the narrator spoke to his friend about his feelings. He got his feelings out in the open, he was no longer angry, and the relationship was kept whole. Contrast that with the second time that the narrator is angry with someone. This time the narrator does not get his feelings out in the open. Instead he feeds those angry.
3. What is the difference between anger and wrath in "A Poison Tree"?
Ans: - In the poem, the speaker experiences anger and wrath toward his friend, but when he talks to his friend about it, this puts an end to his negative feelings. However, when he feels anger and wrath toward his enemy, he does not talk about it, and so his negative feelings grow. The speaker continues to nurse these feelings, and so they grow bigger and bigger and eventually result in the death of his foe. The speaker is "glad" to see his foe dead beneath his tree. Merriam Webster defines anger as a strong feeling of displeasure and usually antagonism (opposition or hostility). Wrath, on the other hand, suggests revenge and retribution for a wrong or slight. When the speaker talks to his friend about his feelings, it takes away his need to exact revenge for whatever created the anger to begin with; when he decides not to address.
4. How did the poet's anger with his friend end?
Ans: - The poet expressed his anger towards his friend as well as his enemy. But he specified the difference between two types of anger. He told that when he was angry with a friend, he convinced his own heart to forgive his friend. He sorted out the differences with his friend by expressing his anger to him and by discussing his own points of view with him. Even if he was hurt and he knew that his friend had done injustice to him, he would have tried his best to forget the past and end the feeling of vengeance in his heart. In this way, the poet's anger, with his friend, came to an end.
5. Describe how his anger kept growing?
Ans: - The poet confessed that when he was angry with his enemy, he did not reveal his anger to his enemy. He feared that if he expressed his anger to him, his enemy would do harm to him. So he suppressed his anger. Day and night he shed tears thinking about the ill or the injustice that had been caused by his enemy to him. Thus, he watered the tree of anger with his tears, allowing the anger to grow. He also aroused his anger with his false smiles and cunning tricks towards his enemy. Since the poet kept his anger within himself and had his own fear and tears, his anger kept growing every day.
6. Describe the effect of the poisonous fruit on the 'enemy'.
Ans: - The poet, William Blake, revealed his anger to his friend and the anger ended. But when the poet concealed his anger from his enemy, the anger grew. It grew like a tree that bore a bright apple. His enemy saw the shining apple. Even though he knew that the apple belonged to the poet, he wanted to have it. So the enemy came secretly into the garden when it was night and ate the apple. In the morning, the poet's anger changed into gladness when he found the enemy outstretched under the poison tree. The apple in the tree of anger symbolizes the poisonous effect.
7. What might have caused the conflict which led to the poet becoming angry with his enemy? Think of one such situation that you have experienced. Describe how you felt and how the enmity grew and things became worse.
Ans: - For the poet, it must have been quite personal life changing issue like lover, parents, cousins, etc., than professional conflict. When my father was taken to hospital for jaundice, he was detected of pancreatic cancer. At that time my elder sister who had always projected herself as a decision maker kept silent because of the fear of deadly disease. She did not play her part well. I naturally became very angry with her and stopped talking. When our father died, she did not play her role in the ceremonial practices but brought a whole lot of her friends to be sympathized. I will never forgive her. Anger has grown to a level where both families have stopped talking to each other.
8. What is the consequence of anger? How is it explained in the poem 'A Poison Tree' by Blake?
Ans: - A Poison Tree is a poem that focuses on the emotion of anger and the consequences of it. It deals with the darker side of the human psyche. The poet expressed his anger, everything was fine, but when he kept it inside, it began to grow, eventually becoming a metaphorical tree with poison fruit. The foe ends up under the tree, destroyed by the speaker's pent up anger. Poet advises the readers to express the anger rather than holding it to oneself. Anger sustained damages both.
9. What motivated the poet to write on anger?
Ans: - William Blake wrote this poem in 1794 and it first appeared in his book Songs of Experience. Society at that time was encouraged to bottle up emotions and to present a polite and unruffled person to the world. Blake thought this approach unhealthy and advocated a more expressive mode of being, especially with regards to potentially festering emotion. His ideas were against the prevailing attitudes of the church and state. The original title Blake had for this poem, Christian Forbearance, reflects this.
10. Has the figure of speech been used effectively in the poem? Justify
Ans: - A Poison Tree uses metaphor, antithesis and biblical associations to highlight the self-damage that can proceed from suppressing anger. The emphasis is on letting go on negative emotions and moving on with life before this energy impacts on the health and wellbeing of others. The worth of the speaker becomes a metaphorical tree bearing a poison apple. This allusion to the book of genesis chapter 3 is a clear one. The tree of knowledge of good and evil is the poem's tree. The serpent is the speaker, both tempting and deceitful, Adam and Eve are the foe, both guilty of disobedience. The poem carries with it a potent message, anger management which is the focal issue for many in society. Blake‟s prescient poem hits the nail on the head with its antithetical argument for letting go of negative energy.
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