A Poison Tree by William Blake 1794 William Blake (1757-1827) was an English poet during the British Romantic literary period who wrote extensively about God, nature, and the beauty of the human imagination.

As you read, take notes on Blake's use of symbolism throughout the poem.

I was angry with my friend;

I told my wrath,1 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.2

And it grew both day and night.

Till it bore3 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 veild the pole;

In the morning glad I see;

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

1. PART A: Which of the following best describes a major theme of the poem? (RL 1.2)

Group of answer choices

A)Envy and greed can permanently damage a relationship.

B)Bottling up one's feelings leads to resentment and even violence.

D)Deceitful people are always punished by their own trickery.

C)A healthy friendship is built on trust and communication.

Flag this Question
Question 21 pts
2. PART B: Which of the following quotes best supports the answer to Part A? (RL 1.1)

Group of answer choices

A)"I was angry with my foe:/I told it not, my wrath did grow." (Lines 3-4).

B)“And I sunned it with smiles, / And with soft deceitful wiles.” (Lines 7-8).

C)“I was angry with my friend; / I told my wrath, my wrath did end.” (Lines 1-2).

D)“And my foe beheld it shine, / And he knew that it was mine.” (Lines 11-12).

Flag this Question
Question 32 pts
3. How do the speaker’s actions in the first stanza provoke action in the poem? (RL 1.3)
Group of answer choices

A)The speaker tricks the foe into trusting them by hiding their anger in the first stanza and offering the foe a poisoned apple later on in the poem.

B)The speaker does not express their anger to their foe, and because of this, their anger worsens until it eventually grows into a poisonous tree.

C)The speaker acts differently towards their friend than their foe, which makes the foe jealous and pushes them to steal from the speaker.

D)The speaker expresses their anger to their friend but withholds this anger from their foe, creating some tension between the friend and the foe.

Flag this Question
Question 42 pts
4. What impact does the figurative language in lines 5-8 have on the poem’s meaning? (RL 2.4)
Group of answer choices

A)The speaker tends to their wrath like a plant, implying that the speaker actually does care for the foe because of all of the attention they pay to them.

B)The speaker’s wrath ripens like a piece of fruit that, like the foe, is outwardly beautiful but inwardly rotten.

C)The speaker’s wrath grows every time their foe smiles at or acts kindly towards the speaker, which suggests that nothing can overcome hatred.

D)The speaker tends to their wrath like a plant that later produces a poisoned fruit, implying that anger can feel satisfying but is toxic to let grow.