The Poison Tree

by William Blake
1.
2.
3.
4.

I
I
I
I

was angry with my friend:

told my wrath, my wrath did end.
was angry with my foe:
told it not, my wrath did grow.

5.
6.
7.
8.

And I watered it in fears

Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles.

9.
10.
11.
12.

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 -

13.
14.
15.
16.

And into my garden stole

When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

PART A: Multiple Choice

/15 marks

Circle the most appropriate answer (1 mark each)

1) How many stanzas does the poem
have?
a) one
b) four
c) five
d) seven
2) What is the theme of the poem?
a) poison tree
b) anger can be eliminated by goodwill
but if nurtured becomes a deadly
poison
c) dont trust your enemies
3) How does the tone of the poem
change?
a) brooding to self satisfied
b) happy to menacing
c) wary to exhilarated
d) contemplative to angry
4) The third quatrain describes how the
a) poets anger can no longer be
hidden.
b) poets wants to poison his foe.
c) poets foe wants to poison him.
5) Lines 11 and 12 are examples of:
a) repetition
b) assonance
c) alliteration
6) Blake uses the apple tree image to
make an allusion to:
a) an apple a day keeps the doctor
away
b) when the apple is ripe it will fall
(Irish phrase)
c) tree of the knowledge of good and
evil (Bible story about Adam and
Eve)
7) Line 5 is an example of:
a) simile
b) metaphor
c) personification
8) Line 10 is an example of:
a) alliteration and metaphor
b) alliteration and assonance
c) alliteration and onomatopoeia

9) Line 14 is an example of:

a) simile
b) metaphor
c) personification
10)
Which of the following best
describes what line 14 means?
a) it was night and the foe carried a
weapon
b) the dark covered the evil crime
c) the foe was Polish
11)
The repetition in the first verse has
the effect of:
a) emphasising the message
b) creating a contrast between
speaking about anger and being
silent
c) emphasising how we treat our
friends and foes differently
d) all of the above
12)
What is the specific effect of the
alliteration in lines seven?
a) repeats a sound
b) imitates the sound of the wind
c) helps create a sneaky mood
13)
Stanzas 1 and 2 use the words:
was told watered sunned. What
part of speech are these?
a) nouns
b) verbs
c) adjectives
d) prepositions
14)
Which word describes the way the
anger is represented in this poem?
a) it can control you
b) its deadly
c) it accumulates
d) all of the above
15)
What does the word wiles mean in
line 8?
a) sly tricks
b) anger
c) flattery

PART B: Short Answers

/15 marks

Answer in full sentences in the spaces provided (1, 2 or 3 marks each)

1) a) Write a definition for allusion:
Allusions are references to people, places, events and objects connected with the topic of the
poem. They are a type of symbol calling up associations in the readers mind. (e.g. apple
temptation/ Adam + Eve)
b) Write a definition for connotations:
Connotations are the ideas associated with a word, often beyond its literal meaning. E.g. night +
hiding
c) Write a definition for onomatopoeia:
Onomatopoeia is when a word imitates the sound it describes.

d) Write a definition for rhyme:

Rhyme is when words have the same sound at the end.
2) a) List the pairs of contrasts in the poem, for example friend and foe. (There are 4 more pairs)
/4
b) How does the use of contrasts/ opposites help reinforce the moral?
/2
a) The poem uses pairs of contrasts such as:
day and night
water and sunned
tears and smiles
grow and end/die
b) These contrasts help reinforce the moral. The moral is that you should communicate openly
about your anger or it will become destructive. The contrasts help show the difference between
expressing your anger (it ends) and harboring a grudge. (it grows). This contrast is as opposite as
day and night. The connection between water and tears, and the sun and the smiles make the
growing anger more vivid.
3) Write a definition for personification and describe the effect it creates.

/2

Personification is using words to give human-like qualities to objects or animals. It makes readers
sympathise or relate to the object or animal as if it were a person.
4) What effect is created in this poem by using metaphors? Give an example to prove your point.
The poem uses a metaphor to compare growing anger with a growing a poisonous tree. It
encourages the audience to look at unresolved anger in a new way by emphasizing how it can be
deadly, fatal, leading to murder. This is more likely to influence the reader in the future because
such a dramatic and powerful visual image is difficult to forget.

/3

PART C: Extended Response

/15 marks

Analyse the poem using the SPECS / SLIMS guide on the planner below.
Use the planner below to plan your response.
Write your response on page 7.
SPECS / SLIMS

Notes / Bullet Points

Subject Matter

Who wrote the poem?

What is the poem about?

William Blake
How unresolved anger can lead to murder

Purpose/Theme/Message

What message do you think

the poet wants to
communicate

to convince readers not to let anger control them or

grow out of proportion, and to treat your enemies
the same as you would friends.
Part A Q2

Emotions/Mood/Tone

What is the main emotion or

mood in the poem? Does it
change?

What is the attitude of the

poet towards the topic?

How do you think the poet

expects the audience to react
to the poem?

I found the poem a little threatening because the

poet describes the anger as all consuming. The tone
changes from brooding to self-satisfied, which made
it creepy. Especially in line 15 where he/she is glad
about the death of the foe. This would help achieve
the purpose a warning about anger.
Part A Q3

Craftsmanship/Technique

see SLIMS below

Summary

Sum up your analysis of the

poem

Structure

N/A

Language

N/A

Imagery

How did the poet use similes,

metaphors or personification
to make the poem effective?

Make sure you give examples

from the poem.

Identify the device.

Quote an example.

Describe how it makes the

poem more effective.

Copied from Part B Question 4 + 2, 1a

Metaphors
Allusions
Contrasts

Movement/Rhythm

N/A

Sounds

How does the poet use sound

devices (rhyme, alliteration,
onomatopoeia, assonance) to
make the poem effective?

Identify the device.

Quote an example.

Describe how it makes the

poem more effective.

Alliteration: Line 10 (Part A Q8)

Rhyme: even rhyme helps create a nursery rhyme mood
where it is a moral tale.
Rhythm is slow and even making the I in the poem seem
more calculating because it implies he/she hold the grudge
and calculates revenge slowly and deliberately.
Repetition: First stanza, emphasizes the contrasts we all
have a choice, just like the I.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Analysis of The Poison Tree

The Poison Tree by William Blake is about how unresolved anger can lead to murder. The poet wants
to convince readers not to let anger control them or grow out of proportion, and to treat your
enemies the same as you would friends. The message is that anger can be eliminated by
goodwill but if nurtured becomes a deadly poison. I found the poem a little threatening because
the poet describes the anger as all consuming. The tone changes from brooding to self-satisfied,
which made it creepy. Especially in line 15 where he/she is glad about the death of the foe. This
would help achieve the purpose a warning about anger.

The poem uses a metaphor to compare growing anger with a growing a poisonous tree. It
encourages the audience to look at unresolved anger in a new way by emphasizing how it can be
deadly, fatal, leading to murder. This is more likely to influence the reader in the future because
such a dramatic and powerful visual image is difficult to forget.
The poem uses pairs of contrasts such as: friend and foe, day and night, water and sunned,
tears and smiles, as well as grow and end/die. These contrasts help reinforce the moral. The
moral is that you should communicate openly about your anger or it will become destructive. The
contrasts help show the difference between expressing your anger (it ends) and harboring a grudge.
(it grows). This contrast is as opposite ands day and night. The connection between water and tears,
and the sun and the smiles make the growing anger more vivid.
An allusion is used with the words bore an apple bright because it refers to the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil (Bible story about Adam and Eve). It emphasises how tempting
it is to want to get revenge on your enemies.
TASK:
NOW you have a go at changing the notes from the planning sheet into a paragraph!