Romantic Period Poem Analysis (A Poison Tree)
For my school assignment we were told to choose a poem from the Romantic period and analyze it, here is the piece I chose:
A Poison Tree
by William Blake
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.
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 & morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
Night & 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,
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.
When the night had veil’d the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree.
This piece is a 16 line poem with 4 quatrains that consist with an AA, BB rhyme scheme. A piece that stuck out to me is some of the language choices he used to make words rhyme like wiles is the one word I hadn't ever heard. Wiles means a devious or cunning stratagems employed in manipulating or persuading someone to do what one wants. Yay for new vocabulary!
Another piece that stood out to me was the repetition of "I" in the first stanza. The speaker in this piece is obviously not happy he was not happy in fact he was "angry with his friend and his foe." But he is normal he says, "I told my wrath, my wrath did end," "I told it not, my wrath did grow." I take this as if when he told his anger and he let it out he grew as a less angry person and became more calm, but when he did not tell his anger and kept to himself his anger grew and he became a worse person.
The second stanza proves there is depression there. "I watered in my fears" means he cried at the facing of his fears. "Night & morning with my tears" means he cried all the time. "And I sunned it with smiles" means he faked his depression by smiling. "And with soft deceitful wiles" which is saying he persuaded people to think that he was happy with his soft smiles.
The third stanza has a connection with the title in the second line of it it says, "Till it bore an apple bright" reminds me of the poison apples from the movies, like the poison tree. Also in the princess movies with the apple it is like the turning point and I feel this is the turning point in the poem. I feel the first line, "And it grew both day and night" is the depression and anger grew deeper and deeper each day she was living. Maybe the last two lines exposes the speakers gender when it says, "And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine" I feel that most enemies are the same gender as them. I feel most women are foes to women and males are foes to males. So when the foe is described as a he that is what leads me to believe that the speaker is a boy or the author himself. His enemy brought out the worst in him and "beheld it shine" making his misery and hatred clear. His enemy knew that he was bothered by him and did whatever he could do make sure he bothered him.
The last stanza is the ending and I feel as though someone has died but I'm not exactly sure who. Is "into my garden stole" into his grave in the cemetery? Or is it into his happy enchanted place? When it says, "My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree" is the enemy buried in a cemetery under a tree? I think it's his enemy and the speaker is now in his enchanted place because he was "glad to see" his foe underneath the tree.
Good poem!!
The second stanza proves there is depression there. "I watered in my fears" means he cried at the facing of his fears. "Night & morning with my tears" means he cried all the time. "And I sunned it with smiles" means he faked his depression by smiling. "And with soft deceitful wiles" which is saying he persuaded people to think that he was happy with his soft smiles.
The third stanza has a connection with the title in the second line of it it says, "Till it bore an apple bright" reminds me of the poison apples from the movies, like the poison tree. Also in the princess movies with the apple it is like the turning point and I feel this is the turning point in the poem. I feel the first line, "And it grew both day and night" is the depression and anger grew deeper and deeper each day she was living. Maybe the last two lines exposes the speakers gender when it says, "And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine" I feel that most enemies are the same gender as them. I feel most women are foes to women and males are foes to males. So when the foe is described as a he that is what leads me to believe that the speaker is a boy or the author himself. His enemy brought out the worst in him and "beheld it shine" making his misery and hatred clear. His enemy knew that he was bothered by him and did whatever he could do make sure he bothered him.
The last stanza is the ending and I feel as though someone has died but I'm not exactly sure who. Is "into my garden stole" into his grave in the cemetery? Or is it into his happy enchanted place? When it says, "My foe outstretch’d beneath the tree" is the enemy buried in a cemetery under a tree? I think it's his enemy and the speaker is now in his enchanted place because he was "glad to see" his foe underneath the tree.
Good poem!!
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