Question

The poem "A Poison Tree," by William Blake, details the speaker′s experience with anger. In an essay, analyze how the use of figurative language develops the poem′s theme. Use examples from the text to support your answer.

Answer 1

The poem “A Poison Tree” by William Blake presents the view of a first-person speaker about anger, fear, and love with friends. The poem highlights the main ideas of negativity and positivity and their open expression along with harms and benefits.

Step-by-step explanation:

The first-person speaker, who is possibly the poet himself, tells that he was angry with his friend, and he openly expressed that he was angry. It ended there and then. However, when he grew angry with his enemy, he could not tell him why he was angry, and it continued growing. The poet wants to state that when you tell the reason for your anger to a friend, it ends but as you definitely do not tell the same to your enemy, it never ends. Rather, it continues growing. The stanza adds to the main theme of negative emotions and the reason of their growth.