What is the subject of this poem i was angry with my friend

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.

And I water’d it in fears, Night and 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,

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.

Meaning

A Poison Tree is a short and deceptively simple poem about repressing anger and the consequences of doing so. The speaker tells of how they fail to communicate their wrath to their foe and how this continues to grow until it develops into poisonous hatred.

The speaker describes how when they were angry with a friend, they talked to their friend about the issue which helped them to overcome their anger. However, the speaker was unable to do the same with an enemy and this leads to developing resentment and an even stronger degree of hatred. An extended metaphor of a tree growing in the speaker's garden demonstrates how the anger continues to grow. In the lines 'And I water'd it in fears' and 'And I sunned it with smiles' the speaker actively cultivates the tree/anger.

Eventually the anger blossoms into a poisoned fruit, the enemy eats the fruit and dies and the speaker seems to be glad of this. However, there is also a sense that they see the destructiveness of what has occurred. As the first lines acknowledge, we can easily overcome our anger if we communicate it properly.

In the show

The poem speaks to Michael’s festering hatred for Tommy. If the story follows the poem we’ll see Michael dead unless foe becomes friend again.

According to some, Blake was one of the most important poets and authors in the development of English literature, especially considering how little he is read by the masses. Although he attacked the institution of religion (and the way it prescribes people to restrain themselves) quite severely during his life-time, he was by no means irreligious or atheistic. He was opposed to seeing the body and soul as two separate things because, he argued, it led to an unnatural restraint of human urges. Jesus was a key figure for him, since he united divinity and humanity. In the title his collection of poetry called Songs of Innocence and Experience Blake was echoing the Miltonic ideas of Paradise and  the Fall. Paradise is a state of innocence in which humanity is still pre-sin, much like during childhood, whereas experience of the "real world" is what leads to corruption and sin. It should come as no surprise, then, that 'A Poison Tree' is to be found in the 'Experience'-part of the book.

'A Poison Tree' - William Blake

Blake's relief etch for this poem.

Lucas Cranach the Elder's painting titled 'The Fall of Man'.

Do you like 'A Poison Tree'? If you like Blake, definitely have a look at some of his relief etchings because they are stunning!

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• • • • The tone of this poem bitter, angry, gloomy, annoyed

      • The mood of this poem is tense, furious, mad

    • • As for nowadays, most get angry on the slightest of things. People hold grudges and not only that, but as referred in the poem the enemy dies in the end due to a poisons apple. In modern day we use words to poison people. We are not aware that using such strong words could hurt a person.

  • • • • The wrath (anger) becomes a tree, poison apple. The emotion is followed through an entire growth cycle, until it blossoms into death. which is comparing the apple to a plant

        • "I told my wrath, my wrath did end" which gives the poet's anger the ability to end instead of demolish as it is a feeling.

      • • • "I was angry with my friend,... I was angry with my foe"

  • • • Born in 1757 in London, England, William Blake began writing at an early age and claimed to have had his first vision, of a tree full of angels, at age 10. He studied engraving and grew to love Gothic art, which he incorporated into his own unique works.

    • • The poem "The Poison Tree" describes the danger of letting anger dwell within oneself. The poem details two scenarios concerning anger. In the first quatrain, the speaker is able to dismiss his anger because a friend made him angry. In the second quatrain, the extended metaphor concerning the poison tree is introduced, and the speaker talks about anger evoked by an enemy. The third quatrain continues to develop an extended metaphor. The fourth quatrain concludes the extended metaphor and reveals that the speaker delights in the destruction of his enemy.

  • • Theme:the suppression of anger ,when a person hides or denies their emotions, they will become poisoned with bitterness and more vengefulness.

      • purpose : Society at that time was encouraged to bottle up emotions and to present a polite and unruffled persona to the world, so the poet wrote this poem to give a moral lesson about dealing with anger .