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A Poison Tree by William Blake

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A Poison Tree is a brief poem that explores the consequences of suppressing anger instead of expressing it.

Poet
William Blake
Composed
1794 · Long 18th century
Core theme
Anger
The PoemFull text

A Poison Tree

William Blake, 1794

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.

Public domain

Sourced from Project Gutenberg

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§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A Poison Tree is a brief poem that explores the consequences of suppressing anger instead of expressing it. Blake illustrates that when you share your anger with a friend, it dissipates, but when you conceal it from an enemy, it transforms into something harmful. In the end, that repressed fury has actually resulted in the death of the speaker's adversary — and the speaker feels a sense of satisfaction about it, which adds a chilling twist to the poem.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. I was angry with my friend: / I told my wrath, my wrath did end.

    Editor's note

    The opening lines establish the poem's key contrast. When the speaker openly expresses anger towards a friend, that anger fades away. Communication acts as the remedy. In contrast, the next two lines reveal that hidden anger towards an enemy does the opposite — it intensifies. Blake conveys this with a straightforwardness that feels almost childlike, yet the reasoning is incredibly sharp.

  2. And I watered it in fears / Night and morning with my tears,

    Editor's note

    Here the metaphor takes root: the anger has become a plant, and the speaker is its gardener. Tears, stemming from fear and self-pity, nourish it. Fake smiles and manipulation—what Blake calls "soft deceitful wiles"—serve as sunlight. Blake illustrates that suppressed anger doesn’t remain dormant; it thrives on every anxious thought and every mask we wear. The speaker is, perhaps unknowingly, nurturing their own hatred.

  3. And it grew both day and night, / Till it bore an apple bright,

    Editor's note

    The tree finally bears fruit — a bright, eye-catching apple. The image clearly evokes Eden. Blake references the biblical story of the Fall to indicate that this fruit represents poisoned temptation. The foe notices it shining and realizes it belongs to the speaker, implying that the enemy is enticed by the fact that the anger is masked as something appealing instead of being presented as the raw hostility it truly is.

  4. And into my garden stole / When the night had veiled the pole;

    Editor's note

    The enemy slips into the garden under the cloak of night — "the pole" refers to the North Star, indicating that the darkness is so deep that even the stars are obscured. This stealthiness reflects the speaker's own hidden nature throughout the poem. When morning arrives, the speaker discovers the foe dead under the tree and feels a sense of relief. This relief is the poem's gut-punch: Blake doesn’t absolve the speaker as a mere victim. The speaker orchestrated this result, and they are fully aware of it.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone seems calm and almost childlike, with its short lines, neat rhymes, and simple words. This tidy appearance makes the content even more unsettling. By the last stanza, the cheerful rhythm reveals a genuine moral horror: someone is dead, and the speaker feels pleased. Blake uses this contrast between form and content to draw the reader in, who has been agreeing with the easy rhythm right until it presents a corpse.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

The poison tree
The tree embodies the speaker's hidden anger. It flourishes due to care — not in spite of the speaker's efforts, but because of them. It symbolizes how unexpressed resentment transforms into a living, threatening force.
The apple
A clear nod to the forbidden fruit from the Garden of Eden. In this context, it represents the outward charm of the speaker's hidden animosity — the smiles and clever tricks that make the poison seem enticing to the opponent.
The garden
The speaker's private inner world is where anger has quietly taken root. By referring to it as a garden, Blake portrays the speaker as someone who intentionally nurtures evil rather than just a passive observer.
Tears and smiles
The water and sunlight nourish the tree. Tears symbolize the fear and self-pity that sustain resentment, while smiles reflect the facade presented to others. Together, they reveal how both personal pain and public pretense fuel concealed anger.
Night / darkness
Darkness weaves its way through the poem, representing secrecy and moral concealment. The enemy creeps in when night obscures even the North Star — the darkest moment imaginable — reflecting the speaker's own concealed, shadowy inner existence.

§06Form & structure

Form & structure

Meter
trochaic tetrameter
Rhyme
AABB CCDD EEFF GGHH

§07Historical context

Historical context

Blake published *A Poison Tree* in 1794 as part of *Songs of Experience*, which complements his earlier work, *Songs of Innocence*. While *Innocence* views the world through the trusting eyes of a child, *Experience* reveals what happens when that trust meets a corrupt adult world. Blake wrote during a time of significant political change—after the American and French Revolutions had disrupted the status quo—and he was wary of institutions, whether they were religious, political, or social, that stifled natural human emotions. *A Poison Tree* aligns perfectly with this perspective: it suggests that moral codes urging people to suppress their anger instead of expressing it openly do not lead to better individuals but to dangerous ones. The poem was initially titled "Christian Forbearance," clearly indicating Blake's target.

§08FAQ

Questions readers ask

What is the main message of A Poison Tree?

Blake's argument is simple: unexpressed anger doesn’t fade; it only intensifies. Sharing your anger with someone helps to release it. When you bottle it up, you only nurture it — and in the end, it can lead to destruction. The poem serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of emotional repression disguised as a moral high ground.

Who is the speaker of the poem?

The speaker is an unnamed first-person narrator — an "I" that represents a sort of Everyman experience. Blake intentionally leaves them nameless and without a backstory, as the psychology he explores is universal. This speaker is also morally conflicted: by the end of the poem, they feel a sense of relief at their enemy's death, making them an unreliable narrator of their own tale.

What does the apple represent?

The apple intentionally mirrors the forbidden fruit from Genesis. In the Bible, the apple symbolizes death and the exile from paradise. In this context, it embodies the speaker's concealed anger, masked by charm — the smiles and tricks that draw the enemy closer. The fruit appears vibrant and tempting, yet it stems from nurtured resentment.

Is the foe's death meant to be taken literally?

Most readers interpret it literally in the context of the poem — the enemy is truly dead, lying beneath the tree. However, it also serves as a psychological truth: the relationship is shattered, and the individual is broken. Blake likely intended for both interpretations to coexist.

Why does Blake use such simple, childlike language for such a dark subject?

That contrast is key. Songs of Experience intentionally takes the gentle rhythms of children's verse and infuses them with adult moral darkness. The sing-song style draws you in before the weight of the content hits. It also reflects the poem's theme: something perilous lurking beneath a seemingly pleasant exterior.

What does "the pole" mean in the line 'When the night had veiled the pole'?

"The pole" refers to the North Star (Polaris), a key reference point for sailors and travelers. When we say night has veiled the pole, it means the darkness is complete — even the guiding star is obscured. This creates an ideal cover for the enemy's stealthy entrance into the garden, reinforcing the poem's theme of actions carried out in secrecy and obscurity.

What is the significance of the title's original draft name, 'Christian Forbearance'?

Blake initially called the poem "Christian Forbearance" in his notebook, which clearly reveals his critique. He's challenging the religious notion that good Christians should hide their anger and turn the other cheek. Blake argues that this enforced suppression isn't virtuous; instead, it fosters something much worse than honest conflict.

How does A Poison Tree fit into Songs of Experience?

Songs of Experience is Blake's collection that reflects on a fallen, corrupted world — the world that emerges after innocence is lost. "A Poison Tree" illustrates how social and moral expectations (like not showing anger, being polite, and smiling) twist genuine human emotions into something harmful. In this "experienced" world, people aren't made better; they're taught to conceal their feelings until those feelings turn toxic.

Key quotes

Key quotes

“I told my wrath, my wrath did end.”
This line establishes the poem's central moral contrast in just a few words: open communication dissolves anger. Blake uses tight, balanced phrasing (almost a logical equation) to make the lesson feel self-evident, which makes the foe's opposite fate all the more damning.
“And I watered it in fears Night and morning with my tears, And I sunned it with smiles And with soft deceitful wiles.”
Blake extends the central metaphor of wrath as a growing plant here, showing how repressed anger is actively cultivated — not merely passive. The dark irony is that the speaker's outward 'smiles' and 'tears' are weapons, exposing how politeness and self-pity can both be forms of deception.
“Till it bore an apple bright,”
The 'apple bright' is a deliberate allusion to the Garden of Eden and the forbidden fruit, linking the speaker's nurtured wrath to original sin. It signals that the poem is not just about one grudge but about a universal human tendency toward destructive secrecy.
“In the morning, glad, I see My foe outstretched beneath the tree.”
The chilling word 'glad' is the poem's sharpest moment — the speaker feels joy at their enemy's death (or ruin), revealing that the real poison was never aimed outward alone but has corrupted the speaker's own soul. The understated, almost cheerful tone makes the horror land harder than any dramatic outburst would.

Citation

Cite this poem

MLA

Blake, William. "A Poison Tree." 1794. Storgy, https://storgy.com/poems/a-poison-tree-william-blake/.

APA

Blake, W. (1794). A poison tree. Storgy. https://storgy.com/poems/a-poison-tree-william-blake/

TeacherAP Lit Q1 scaffold — preview

Row A — Thesis

1 pt

In 'A Poison Tree,' William Blake uses the extended metaphor of a cultivated plant to argue that suppressed anger is not merely dangerous but is an act of deliberate, self-conscious tending — one that transforms the speaker from victim of …

  • Row B — Evidence + Commentary4 pts
  • Row C — Sophistication1 pt
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