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A Poison Tree by William Blake is metaphorically describing the idea of life and the natural way humans live and choose to experience it. The poem describes the wrath of anger which can be dispersed by kindness or become a lethal poison if continued to be nurtured within oneself. The theme of the poem is an appropriate reference to the biblical theme of Adam and Eve. The opening stanza organizes everything from expressing the anger to the “friend” to the withholding the anger from the “foe”. Blake uses the simplicity of the poem to surprise his readers with his metaphors that apply themselves to countless occurrences in life. Blake uses different types of figurative language, so that he is able to use a simple rhyme scheme (AABB) in order to keep his readers interested and the poem is consistent. By using different types of figurative language, it grants him the access to express his thoughts and feelings more clearly to the reader, so that they have a better comprehension to what he is expressing. The different types of figurative language found in the poem helps the...
In traditional poems, poets use metaphors or similes to create a sense of mystery, Brown instead uses the southern dialect to describe the life of the
... “A Poison Tree” shows what that anger can do to the bearer when it fully manifests itself.
“A Poison Tree”, and many other poems by William Blake are superb examples of the Romanticism movement through their focus on the situation and sins of the common man and use of nature as a major symbol and conceit. These highly romantic characteristics, along with his simplistic language, convey the romantic focus on mankind. This poem is easily understood by all who read it; however simplistic it is, the message of warning continues to stand true. Blake’s unique transitional writing style to the romantic literary movement made him one of the most influential men in literature in his day. His works aided in the popularization of Romanticism, which continues to be a large contributor to the art and literature of today.
The imagery of nature and humanity intermingling presents Blake's opinion on the inborn, innate harmony between nature and man. The persona of the poem goes on to express the `gentle streams beneath our feet' where `innocence and virtue meet'. This is where innocence dwells: synchronization with nature, not synchronization with industry where `babes are reduced to misery, fed with a cold usurous hand' as in the experienced version of `Holy Thursday'. The concept of the need for the individual's faithfulness to the laws of nature and what is natural is further reiterated in `the marriage of heaven and hell' in plate 10 where Blake states `where man is not, nature is barren'. The most elevated form of nature is human nature and when man resists and consciously negates nature, `nature' becomes `barren'. Blake goes on to say `sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted desires'. This harks back to `the Songs of Innocence' `A Cradle Song' where the `infants smiles are his own smiles'. The infant is free to act out its desires as it pleases. It is unbound, untainted. Blake's concern is for the pallid and repressed, subjugated future that awaits the children who must `nurse unacted desires' and emotions in this new world of industrialisation. Despairingly, this is restated again in `the mind-forg'd manacles' of `London'. The imagery of the lambs of the `Songs of Innocence' `Introduction' is developed in `the Chimney Sweeper' into the image of `Little Tom Dacre, who cried when his head, that curl'd like a lamb's back, was shav'd'.
of the speaker through out the poem. One Art is a poem about inevitable loss and the incognizant
Mason, Michael. Notes to William Blake: A Critical Edition of the Major Works. Ed. Michael Mason. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988.
One of Blake’s most famous works is The Songs of Innocence and The Songs of Expe...
The third part in the poem exclaims what happened to the hate and anger he tried to hide while hiding it from his foe. His hate “grew both day and night” which can basically sum up that what the speaker really has is angst towards his enemy. Finally his angst grew so much that it could not be hidden anymore and his enemy found out about his “secret”.
Blake also uses several forms of figurative language. He works with a simple AABB rhyme scheme to keep his poem flowing. These ideals allow him to better express himself in terms that a reader can truly understand. These forms of language better help authors to express their feelings and thoughts that would not normally be able to be expressed by words.
The poem is divided into 2 Stanza's with 3 lines each. And there are an
The speaker seems as if he is trying to escape this horrendous beast, the reader can almost feel the panic and terror that the speaker seems to be going through. “Blake creates this effect by drawing on several poetic devices”(Furr).
Blake, William. "A Poison Tree." The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volume 2. 7th ed. Ed. M.H. Abrams. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 2000. pg.58.
meaning of the poem is greatly enhanced by its form, and for a variety of
as a separate group to the "infant" in the poem as he refers to them
The final stanza of the poem concludes that God’s compassion for the human being, his creation, has the power to rid us of our suffering. God will not desert us, and will in fact “sit by us and moan” when we suffer.