1. A Poison Tree by William Blake
LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure
Starter Task
Explain how each of these pictures links to the poem 1 2 3 4 5

2. A Poison Tree by William Blake
LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure
Themes
Anger
This poem is about anger. How we deal with anger is very important
The first stanza contrasts 2 different ways of dealing with anger and two different outcomes that may occur as a result.
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 watered 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 veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Language & Communication
This is a warning about what can happen if you do not communicate your feelings. Equally, the poet is communicating this important message to us.
Deception
The speaker does not speak about his feelings to his enemy and bottles his emotions up. The enemy then sneaks into his garden to steal the fruit. The word ‘stole’ shows that the foe sneaks in & also reminds us that this is an act of theft.

3. A Poison Tree by William Blake
LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure
Form & Structure
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 watered 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 veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
4 stanzas
Each stanza = 2 pairs of rhyming couplets
Regular repeated pattern of AABB
This straightforward and simple structure contrasts with the very complex human emotions he is describing
Iambs (stressed syllables)
Iambic tetrameter
A stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable (iamb)
4 in each line (tetra)
Creates a ‘da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM’ rhythm
Like a nursery rhyme
Gives the poem a childish feeling – contrasts to the serious adult themes in the poem

4. A Poison Tree by William Blake
LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure
Language & Imagery
The language is very simple
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 watered 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 veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
All lines in stanza 1 start with ‘I’
Emphasises this is a personal story told from an individual point of view
All of the words in stanza 1 are monosyllables (only have 1 syllable) except for the word ‘anger’ which is repeated twice
Emphasises emotion and the two different ways the speaker deals with this emotion
7 other lines begin with ‘And’
Helps the story to build and increase intensity
Resembles a child telling a story
All of this makes it seem like a children’s nursery rhyme with a serious moral message to convey

5. A Poison Tree by William Blake
LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure
What poems would you compare this to in the anthology? Think about:
Era
Themes
Imagery
Tone
Viewpoint
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 watered 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 veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Poem to compare
Reasons
Evidence