Famous Friendship Poem

This poem by William Blake (1757-1827 London) depicts the value of not holding bad feelings inside. In the poem, he suggests that sharing your bad feelings with the one you are angry about will cause the ill will to disappear. On the other hand, holding a grudge inside will only make it grow more powerful. The poem ends with a murder in a garden.

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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...

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Analysis of Form and Technique

Famous Poem

A Poison Tree

By William Blake more 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.

And I waterd it in fears
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,

And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretchd beneath the tree.

Analysis of Form and Technique

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Techniques this poem uses:

This poem uses a metaphor to convey the ideas. Metaphors compare two objects or ideas. In this poem, bitterness and anger that can develop in a friendship are compared to a tree that grows from a small seed and ultimately bears fruit.
And I waterd it in fears
And it grew both day and night,
Till it bore an apple bright.

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This poem is made up of quatrains, which are four line stanzas.
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This poem follows the AABB rhyming pattern. The last words in the first two lines of each stanza rhyme with each other, and the last words in the third and fourth lines of each stanza rhyme.
And I waterd it in fears A
Night & morning with my tears; A
And I sunned it with smiles, B
And with soft deceitful wiles. B

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