Find a poem and write a review or an interpretation of it (write the review using the language that it is written).
The Poison Tree By: William Blake
Anger is one of the most powerful emotion that can make a person or even an animal to lose their sense of rationality and be aggressive. The poem, was in a first person where the speaker is expressing his anger on his enemies. It is a poem not about forgiveness, it is about how vengeance was the only way to heal the anger inside them.
The first two line of the first stanza, "I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end" was about the speaker being able to easily forgive their friends when they fight. No matter how angry they are with their friends, after thinking for some time they can convince themselves to just brush away the anger and reconcile with a friend. But that does not apply to their enemies, the last two lines of the first stanza, "I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow", was how the anger on their foe or enemies won't be easily solve with convincing yourself to just forget about it. Time won't heal any anger as time would only make the anger bigger and bigger until they explode.
The second stanza, was a confession that he or the poet himself was to blame for the growth of the anger inside him. In these lines, "And I watered it in fears, Night & morning with my tears" he used the words fears and tears as a metaphor to water and his anger as a metaphor for a plant which grow overtime if watered every day. The last two lines are another metaphor on how to help a plant grow, "And I sunned it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles". Those sarcasm are depicted to be the sun which has a bright façade and can help a plant grow, as well as those sarcastic smiles it may be bright on the outside but it can nourish the anger on the inside.
The third stanza, is about the growth of the anger that has been watered by fears and tears for a long time. "And it grew both day and night, Till it bore an apple bright", the apple was a metaphor for vengeance that has grown inside the heart of the poet. The poet know that he cannot forget that anger now until he does something that can help him soothe the vengeance. "And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine", and when his enemy confronts that, now that the fruit has turned into a weapon and now he just wanted to use that and end his anger.
The fourth stanza, there are lines "In the morning glad I see, My foe outstretched beneath the tree" which is a fresh start of the poets life. After he murdered his enemy. The last line clearly says that his enemy was outreached beneath the tree, which means dead. The poet acted on his anger, which he had been feeling for a long time.
Anger was an aggressive emotion, the longer you keep it inside the more it grows and consume you. Until the days come and you can no longer control it but it will be the one who will control you. The poem "The Poison Tree", tells a good story of acting on anger. It was a great depiction of growing anger for your enemy. It shows how dangerous it can be and how things would end up when someone let their anger grow inside of them.
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