A Poison Tree by William Blake

Stanza 1

I was angry wlth my friend: (//ne 7)

I told my wrath, my wrath did end. (line 2)
I was angry with my foe: frne 3)
I told it not, my wrath did grow. (line 4)

Stanza 2

And I watered ttin fears, (line 1)

Night and morning with my tears, (line 2)
And I sunned itwith smiles, frre 3)
And wjth soft deceitful wiles. (line 4)

Stanza 3

And it grew both day and night, f/tne 7)

Till it bore an apple brigftt,(line 2)
And my foe beheld it shine, (/rne 3)
And he knew that it was mine, f/ine 4)

Stanza 4

And into my garden stole (line 1)

When the night had veiled the pote. (line 2)
ln the morning glad I see frne 3)
My foe outstretched beneath the ttee.(tine 4)

Line by line Meani.ng

Stanzal-lhadamisunderstandingwithmyfriendandwasangri ltoldmyfriendaboutmywrath. lgotovermyangeran( forgotit.Butwhenlgotangry

with my foe. I didn't tell him about it. I bottled up my wrath and
it r tens fled. lt grew and grew tike a plant.

Stanza 2- My anger grew like a tree. I nourished my anger{ree ,.! th anger, suspicion and hatred. I was suspjcjous of my fo, and I was angry with hrm. But
I tricKeo him to bring him closer to me. outwardly I smiled and I v.,as fnendly to gain hjs trust.

Stanza 3' My "tree" was poisonous because it was full of anger ratred and suspicion. Later, it bore a shiny poison appie. \,4y foe saw it and knew it was
mine.

Stanza 4- One nlght when there were no staTS, my foe came tnto my garden and stole my poison apple. He fell into my traF He ate the appie and died. ln
the morning, I was happy to see him lying dead under my poisor .ree.

Summ.q519f the PoeF

ln this poem, the persona is angry after a misunderstanding wrth 'IS friend and hts foe. He talks about the misunderstandin I with his friend and gets over
his anger. But he doesn't talk about hls anger to his foe, so his anger increases and grows into an anger-plant.
The persona ireais his growing anger like a growing plant. He feeds the seed of his "plant" with anger and hatred. He wate s it with doubt, suspicion and
hatred and he nourishes it with fake sunshine. He gives his ange -p ant 'smiles" and "deceitful wiles". Outwardly, the perso ra smiles and is friendly to his
foe so that he wlll trust him and be close to him. He is scheming to trrck and trap his foe. His jncreasing anger and hatred :rows into a poison tree The
poison is actually tre persona's wrath and hatred for his foe.
Then the persona becomes spitefui revengefuJ and murderous as his anger and hatred intensify. He plots to kill his foe an( his devious plan works when
his poison tree bears a deadly poison apple. The persona's foe sees t and is tempted to eat it. One dark night, he sneaks rto the persona,s garden and
steals his poison apple. Then he eats it and dres The ..xt mornrng, the persona is happy to see him lying dead L, rder his poison tree.

Settinq
. Place - in his garden . under the poison tree
c Time - in the darkness of the night , the next morntng

-r-gns

Anger, bitterness and maliciousness- The persona is extremel r angry with his foe. As his anger intensifies, he become. scheming and murderous. ln
Stanza 4, the tone is also accusing. The persona accuses his foe of stealing his apple in his garden at night.
r

Themes and Moral Values

l The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding-
when there is a misul cerstanding, we should talk about
it to resolve our differences.

2 Harbouring ill feelings against someone- we shouldn't harbour ill feeirngs

agajnst anyone.
3 Forgiving and forgetting- When there s a misunderstanding, we must forgive
and forget.
4 Bottling up ill feelings' Bottling up ill reelrngs is bad for us and those around us.
Word vs Meaninq

a wrath - extreme anger

a foe - enemy
a watered - poured water on plants
a sunned - proylded sunshine
a deceitful - dishonest behaviour to make peopre be ieve things which are not true
a wiles - clever tricks a person uses fo gef what he /. ants
a bore - produced fruit
a beheld - looked at or saw
a veiled - covered with something to hide something caftty or comptetety
a pole - the Pole star which ts the sfar fhaf ls above tne Nofth pole in the sky

Meaning of the stanza

Stanza 1
lhadamisunderstandingwithmyfriend.ltoldmyf"iendaboutmyanger,lgotovermywrath
and.orgotit.Butwhenlgot
angry with my foe,l did not tell him.l bottled up my wrath and it intensified.lt
grew like a plant.

Stanza 2
My anger grew like a tree.l nourished my anger-tree with anger,suspicion
and hatred.l was suspicicus and hatred.l suspicious
of my foe and I was angry with him.But I tricked him to bring him closer
to me,outwardly,l smiled ; rd I was friendly to gain
his trust.

Stanza 3
My "tree" was poisounous because it was full of anger,hatred and
suspicion.Later,it bore a shiny poison apple.My
foe saw it and kew it was mine.

Stanza 4
onenightwhentherewerenostars,myfoecameintomygardenandstolemypoisonapple.Hefell
ntomytrap.Heatethe
apple and died,ln the morning,r was happy to see hirn rying dead under
my poison tree.

Tone
Anxious
Revenge
Angry

Themes and MoralValue

Dangerous of harbouring wrath and hatred: we must not harbour
wrath and hatred against anyone.
The dangerous of bottling up feelings; Bottling up illfeeling is
bad for us and people those,rround us
Forglving and forgettlng : when there is a misunderstanding,
we should forgive and forget.
 r -What emotion is expressed in Stanza r ?

Anger

t -Which word in stanza z that has the same rneitning as ,,dishonest,,?

Deceitful

I -What happened to the persona's foe eventually and holv did the persona react to this?
The persona's foe eventually died. He u'as glacl to sce his 1 r,, ontstretched beneath the tree

r -\Mhat would you do if you had a misunder.star.rding rvith your enemy? suggest 2 ways.
r Talk to my enemy and solve the problem
r ignore my enemy

| -In stanza r, what happened to the persona u,hcn he did not ex?ress his anger?
His anger intensified
/ grerv.

r -In stanza B, what did the apple refer to?

The apple refelred to the persona's anger / hatred.

r -In stalrza 4, why did the persona feel happy?

He felt happy because his foe fell into his trap.

He felt happy because his fbe died under the tree.

| -In this poem, the persona was angry with his foe. lf you were the persona's friend, what advit e would you give to him?
Advice r . I would advise my friend to speali honestly to his ioe so they could clear the misunderstanding between .hem

Advice z: I r'r'ould advise my friend to fbrgive his fbe because being angn, nould onl-v hurt him and his foe

I -What did the persona do when he n'as angrl' u ith his friend?
He told him his lr,rath and the u,rath l\'as gone.

r -In stanza 2, how did the persona allow his anger to grow?
He watered it in fears and tears and sunned it with smiles and deceitful wiles

r -In stanza B, what does the word it refer to?

The persona's anger / the poison tree / the tree

t 'Ifyou were the persona, would you have bcen glad to see your "foe outstretched beneath the lree"? Give a reason to
sr pportyour answer.
Yes because he had done something bad to me. OR

No, because tve could have forgiven each othet"s mistake.

 t -In stanza 1, who is the persona angry with?
His friend/ his enemy/ his foe ( ONLY ONE ANS\{ER)

. -Which word in stanza t shou's the persona is similar to an apple tree?

Grow

r -In stanza z, what does the word'it'refer to?

The wrath

r -flow would you feel if you had a misunderstanding with your friend? Explain.
Feelings : upset/sad/ unhappy I r mark ]

Explanation I have no one to talhto.

r -Which phrase is stanza I has the same meaning as'kept his anger to himself
I told it not

I -What did the persona do to ensure that thc tree grcw healthily?
CHOOSE ONE:

He r,vatered it with tears / He sunned it with smiles/ He sur. ned it with soft deceitlul wiles

| -'In the morning glad I see

-My foe outstretched beneath the tree'
-In your opinion, how did the persona feel that morning?
The persona felt happy/ excited/ glad/ contented

t -Do you agree with the persona's feeling? Give a reason for your answer.
No, because it is wrong to kill someone.
Yes because the persona felt contented.

poem A poison Tree: HOTs euestions + Answers

HOTs QUESTIONS

1. What does the persona do with his/her anger of the cnemy?

The persona iust keeps it inside and lets it qet worse.

2. "l told it not, my wrath did grow."

Unstable emotion should never be kept inside How lan you release it? Provide a reason for your an\wer.

Method: Talk to the people involved

Reason: Talking can resolve the problem.

J. What would you do if you had a misunderstanding with your foe?

I would talk to him/her to find out the root of the matter.

Why do you think the persona did not tell his foe about his wrath?
 He found it difficult to talk about the matter.

What two things can you learn from this poem?

./ We should talk about our anqer or our feelinos.Me should

forqive and forqet.

"Till it bore an apple bright,,

Do you think revenge solves problems? Give a reason for your answer.

Opinionl No. lt is poinfless.

R"rsgnr rqvenqe does not solug alrv problem. it iust ,ak"" it *or".
How does the persona feel about his/her foe lying under the tree in the morning. Give a reason for your
answer
He felt
!?!!s,fjed/haopv gecirlse higlher enemv is dead/ somethinq terrtbte happened to hislher
enemv./ His/her enemv is defeated.

'l was angry with my friend.'

How would you avoid getting angry with a friend. state a good effect of your action.

Method: lwould not listen to rumours so eqsilv.

Reason:

9. 'l was angry with my foe'

State one bad effect of anger and suggest a solution to manage anger.

Effect Anqer can make vou lose vour iudqement.

solution: Make sure vou qet the riqht facts about an issue before vou qet anqrv.

10.What is the poem about?

The Doem is about the bqd effects of holding gne's anger./ lt is about anser manaqement.

11. What lessons have you learnt from the poem? State two.

a. Communication is important to avoid misunderstandinq.

b. We must also learn to forqivq and fo-rqet,

12. Why does the foe want the apple?

ln stanza 1, what happens to an anger that is not sett ed?

It qrows. / lt becomes biqoer than it actuallv is.

What does the word "deceitful" mean?

Lies

ln stanza 2, which phrase suggests that the persona pretended and used tricks?

"Soft deceitful wi les,,

 6

4. In stanza 3, which phrase teils you that the persona kept his anger
ail the time?

"qrew both dav and niqht,,

What does the tree symbolise?

It svmbolises qrowinq anqer.

Po ste d o n -Qc-tg_bel*g_,q.2.0_:17 by a-d m in

Poem A Poison Tree : Soalan percubaan + Jawapan

JOHORSET T
r In stanza r, which word in the poem means 'the feering of anger,?
wrath

, In Stanza z, what did the persona rvater his wrath with?

his/ the persona's tears

. Why is he angrywith his foe?

Maybe his foe did something that he did not like.

. List two things that you can learn from the poem
(i) We should forgive someone and not contain our. a nger.

(ii) When we are angry at someone, we should tell the person

about it.

META.KA
r rn stanza r, what did the persona do when he was angrywith
his foiend?
He told his friend about it and the anger was gone,

. In Stanza 3, what does ,ft,, refer to?

The wrath/ anger/ the tree

. Which line sr ggests that the persona,s enemy noticed the apple?
And my foe beheld it shine

I
Anger management is very important. Gir e two reasons to support our statement.
1. When we express our anger positively, we woulcl feel relieved.
, We need to control our anger because if we expless it wrongiy, we
could create bigger problems.

SEI,ANC,ORSETA
r In Stanza 1, who was the persona angry with?
His friend/ his enemy/ his foe

r In Stanza 1, how was the persona able to make up with his friend after the misunderstand?
He told his anger to his friend and the anger ended

t How did the persona feed his anger? Give one way.
He watered with his fears and tears

OR He sunned with smiles

OR He sunned it with soft deceitful wiles

r How would you feel when you gave misunderstanding with your friend? Explain.
Feeling: I feel upset/ sad/ disappointed/ 1one11,

Explanation: I have no one to talk to.

JOHOR SET z
' How does the persona feel towards his foe?
Angry / wrath

. Which word in the poem means der,ious?

Deceitful

. Which line tells you the persona is pleased to see the foe dead?
In the morning glad I see

' Do you think it is right for the persona to treat his enemy in such a u,ay?
No, it is not the right thing to do.

I flow would you treat your enemy?

I wouid discuss with the enemy about our misunderstanding and forgive him.

JOHORSET3
. In Stanza 1, who are the people the persona is angrywith?
His friend and his foe

I What happenedwheu he did not tell his foe his anger?

His anger grew/ his anger intensified.

' Which line in Stanza 4 shows that the persona is not upset with what had happened to his enemy?
In the morning glad I see

r \Me can conclude from the poem that harbouring anger towards someone is bad. If you are in a similar
situation, what would you do? Give reasons for your decision.
I would discuss with my enemy about my anger. This is because keeping anger is bad for our emotion.
KEDAH
r In Stanza r, who are the people the persona is angry with?
His friend and his foe

. In Stanza 2, state a characteristic that describe the persona

Deceitful/ cunning/ devious

r In Stanza 4, which line indieates that the foe is dead

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

r What is the best thing to do when you are angry?

Action: I will go to the beach and scream out loud.

Reason: By this way, I can vent out my anger and th:nk about lt without hr.rrtilg anyone.

PERAKTENGAH
r In Stanza r, which word has the same meaning as enemy?
Foe

. In your opinion, what does the apple symbolize in the poem?

The wrath/ the anger

. In Stanza 4, which line shows that the slcr-was dark?

When the night had veiled the pole

' Putting yourself in the persona's shoe, list tn o ways you can resolve a conflict that r.ou may have with your
enemy without hurting one another.
(i) I will have a good discussion with my enemy.

(ii) I win go to a councillor to get a good advice abou t n,ry conflict.