FREE ESSAY ON ANALYSIS OF A POISON TREE

ANALYSIS OF A POISON TREE

In choosing a poem from the English Romanticism era, I found one that particularly stands
among others. A poem that had some depth, in that I couldn't understand and feel what the
poem was expressing at first glance. It is a poem that had a sense of mystery around it.
These characteristics are exceptionally evident in William Blake's poem A Poison tree.
William Blake was a British poet and painter born in 1757 to a father who was hosier.
Anger, wrath, and fear are very prominent in the short sixteen-line piece and engulf you
from the start. In this paper, there will be an argument that A Poison Tree is a symbol
for the lack of restraint and self-control in man. An argument that Blake, if referring
to himself in the poem, uses himself as the serpent from the Garden of Eden, except as a
serpent with a conscious. 
The first stanza juxtaposes the idea of friend and foe in a rather elegant way. The
stanza reads, 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 (Songs of Experience Pg.38). The contrast
in actions relating to a friend in distinction to a foe, is the relevant theme in this
stanza. The different ways in which Blake, if he indeed is referring to himself in this
poem, deals with anger towards a friend and conversely towards an adversary is striking.
When angry with a friend, Blake is able to control his anger and enclose it in a finite
sense. On the other hand, Blake shows little forgiveness for an enemy. Blake's harshness
and lack of repentance toward the man in this poem cannot be fully realized until looking
at the final two stanzas as well as the illustration.
The second stanza reads, And I waterd it in fears,/ Night & morning with my tears:/ And I
sunned it with smiles./ And with soft deceitful wiles (Songs of Experience Pg.39). This
stanza is completely centered on the tree that the foe would later steal an apple from.
Blake's is obviously making a symbol and allegory in reference to the Bible and the
Garden of Eden. Now the question is whether the Blake's tree symbolizes, from the Bible,
the tree of good and evil or the tree of life. Does it even matter which tree was being
symbolized here? These are questions that should be answered to fully understand the
poem. Some knowledge of the Bible is in order to accomplish this. 
One tree from the Garden of Eden is the tree of good and evil; this is the tree from
which Eve took the fruit (however not an apple) and shared it with Adam. Satan, in the
form of a serpent, tempted Eve by telling her that she would be wise and know the
difference between good and evil if she ate the fruit off the tree. The second tree is
the tree of life which also contains fruit, that if eaten will bring the eater eternal
life. Because Adam and Eve ate from the tree of good and evil, they were not allowed to
eat from the tree of life and therefore banished from Eden. 
From the second stanza alone, it is impossible to make a reference towards what tree is
being referred to. Interesting is that Blake states, And I waterd it in fears (Songs of
Experience Pg.39). Blake's wrath was accompanied with fear. Fear from what? Could it be
the fear from Blake's foe? Or could it be fear that fruit from the tree could be stolen?
One can assume that Blake's fear stems for his actions in lines 6-9; Night & morning with
my tears:/ And I sunned it with smiles./ And with soft deceitful wiles (Songs of
Experience Pg.39). Blake was fearful of his actions that would ultimately produce a
poison tree that could entice and inflict pain on his enemy. Blake is showing some signs
of a conscious such as creating something that was tempting and yet also deadly. However,
the one instrumental difference from the Bible is that the serpent never had a conscious.

Blake mentions that he, referring to the tree, sunned it with smiles./ And with soft
deceitful wiles (Songs of Experience Pg.39). It is Blake's deceitful wiles that allow him
to nurture this poison tree and return the deceit that Blake has received to his foe. It
is important to note that Blake's enemy didn't become so by stealing an apple from his
tree. Blake was already angry with this man. Evidence of this can be seen in third
stanza. 
The third stanza reads, 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 (Songs of Experience Pg. 39).
Blake's foe beheld it shine. If his enemy saw the apple then one must conclude that this
man was Blake's adversary before he watered and nurtured the tree. Knowing that is
crucial because it helps to understand the first stanza fully. For example, if Blake were
mad at his enemy only because he stole from his tree, then the first stanza would serve
as summary to the upcoming three stanzas. The first stanza is not a summary but an
introduction to the rest of the story in the poem. 
With the third stanza understood, one can now go back to my original question of the
tree. Is the tree a representation of the tree of good and evil, the tree of life, or
neither? Since both trees in the Garden of Eden contained fruit as Blake's does, that
only adds to the remarkable similarity in imagery that Blake is using in reference to the
Garden of Eden. There is still not enough evidence to make a convincing case either way.

An instrumental line in the third stanza is in line thirteen, which states, And my foe
beheld it shine (Songs of Experience Pg.39). Evidence is given to the fact that the apple
is tempting. By the apply shining, imagery of a very alluring and breathtaking fruit is
constructed. Blake does this to create even more reinforcement to the fact that he is
playing the part of the serpent. Blake was the one who created this captivating apple and
his purpose was to entice his rival to his downfall. 
The climax of the poem comes in the fourth and last stanza. It reads, And into my garden
stole./ When the night had veild the pole./ In the morning glad I see./ My foe
outstretched beneath the tree (Songs of Experience Pg. 39). The night covered or veiled
Blake's garden and allowed the enemy to steal the tree. One might even conclude, although
complete evidence of this is not present, that the night directly refers to Blake's role
as the serpent or Satan. In the literary world, such as Dante's Inferno, and more
conventional means such as the Bible, it is understood that God is everything. This
includes light and abandons everything else. Since evil things are what God is not, the
darkness of the night would be a logical companion for the serpent to possess as a tool
for tempting the foe toward the tree. 
The last two lines of the poem capture the entire mood of the poem as a whole. Blake
affirms, In the morning glad I see./ My foe outstretchd beneath the tree (Damrosch 125)
Blake's adversary ate the apple and is now lying beneath the tree. 
Knowing that the man whom ate the apple is dead, resolves the dispute of the tree that he
ate from. As mentioned earlier, the tree of life, if eaten from, will beget eternal life.
It is secure to say that Blake's tree was not an allegory for the tree of life. The tree
of good and evil permits the knowledge of differentiating good from evil. Evidence for
Blake's reference to this tree is not indisputable, however Blake was ultimately
referring to the tree of good and evil because, as in the first stanza, the poem revolves
around good and evil, friend and foe. 
The problem is that death does not directly come from eating off the tree of good and
evil. However, Blake deliberately left room for speculation on how the man ultimately
ended up outstrecthd beneath the tree. Adam and Eve were eventually banished from the
Garden of Eden for eating from the tree of good and evil and ultimately denied eternal
life. In a sense, the tree was responsible for their downfall just as Blake's tree could
be seen as the reason for his foe's demise. Not only did the apple lead to the man's
downfall, but also the lack of restraint that is a symbol of the desertion of
self-control in all man. 
The illustration that guides the poem is such a way that one can consider it one of
Blake's greatest works. The artwork centers around a man, on his back, lying lifeless
under the barren branches of a leafless tree. The sky is blue but one can make out that
with such nice environment, it gives evidence to the fact that conditions are such that a
tree should flourish; however the tree that the man lies under is dead. Blake represents
his own poison tree and contrasting that to the real world. 
Another striking aspect of the illustration is the way the man is position beneath the
tree. His arms outstretched. What is odd is, in reference to the poem, the man being the
one who lacked restraint and ate the apple is actually a symbol for the man who died for
sin's such as the one he just committed - Christ. Blake may have been making a point on
the ability to take for granted the sacrifice Christ made in dying for our sins. Blake
was an avid reader of the Bible, and references like that were very characteristic of the
time. 
"A Poison Tree is the ideal poem for Blake's Songs of Experience. Blake realizes that
innocence is not just purely good or experience purely evil. Although Blake uses A Poison
Tree to point out the lack of self-control and restraint in man, he also shows the
tempter, the serpent, with a conscious, which differs from the Bible greatly. Overall, I
believe that the poem is one of Blake's best works from Songs of Experience. I feel that
Blake's use of imagery, allegory, symbolism and illustration really set this poem apart
from others. 
Bibliography
this is an analysis of the poem A Poison Tree by William Blake, from the songs of
Experience book.