The Poison Treeby William Blake

1. I was angry with my friend:2. I told my wrath, my wrath did end.3. I was angry with my foe:4. I told it not, my wrath did grow.

5. And I watered it in fears6. Night and morning with my tears,7. And I sunned it with smiles8. And with soft deceitful wiles.

9. And it grew both day and night,10. Till it bore an apple bright,11. And my foe beheld it shine,12. And he knew that it was mine -

13. And into my garden stole14. When the night had veiled the pole;15. In the morning, glad, I see16. My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

PART A: Multiple Choice /15 marksCircle the most appropriate answer (1 mark each)

1) How many stanzas does the poem have?a) oneb) fourc) fived) seven

2) What is the theme of the poem?a) poison treeb) anger can be eliminated by goodwill

but if nurtured becomes a deadly poison

c) don’t trust your enemies

3) How does the tone of the poem change? a) brooding to self satisfiedb) happy to menacing c) wary to exhilaratedd) contemplative to angry

4) The third quatrain describes how the …a) poet’s anger can no longer be

hidden.b) poet’s wants to poison his foe.c) poet’s foe wants to poison him.

5) Lines 11 and 12 are examples of:a) repetitionb) assonancec) alliteration

6) Blake uses the apple tree image to make an allusion to:a) an apple a day keeps the doctor

awayb) 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) simileb) metaphorc) personification

8) Line 10 is an example of:a) alliteration and metaphorb) alliteration and assonancec) alliteration and onomatopoeia

9) Line 14 is an example of:a) simileb) metaphorc) personification

10) Which of the following best describes what line 14 means?a) it was night and the foe carried a

weaponb) the dark covered the evil crimec) the foe was Polish

11) The repetition in the first verse has the effect of:a) emphasising the messageb) 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 soundb) imitates the sound of the windc) helps create a sneaky mood

13) Stanzas 1 and 2 use the words: ‘was’ ‘told’ ‘watered’ ‘sunned’. What ‘part of speech’ are these?a) nounsb) verbsc) adjectivesd) prepositions

14) Which word describes the way the anger is represented in this poem?a) it can control youb) it’s deadlyc) it accumulatesd) all of the above

15) What does the word ‘wiles’ mean in line 8?a) sly tricksb) angerc) flattery

PART B: Short Answers /15 marksAnswer 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 reader’s 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 nightwater and sunnedtears and smilesgrow 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 marksAnalyse 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

S Subject Matter Who wrote the poem? What is the poem about?

William Blake How unresolved anger can lead to murder

P 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

E 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

C Craftsmanship/Technique see SLIMS below

S Summary Sum up your analysis of the

poem

S Structure N/A

L Language N/A

I 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

M Movement/Rhythm N/A

S 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’.

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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!