Sunday, April 3, 2011

A Poison Tree William Blake

In this poem, A Poison Tree by William Blake there is a lot to comment about structure and meaning of the poem. To start off with meaning I see this as the common Friend vs Foe cliche. The author is writing about how he pents up his anger agianst his foe and uses it to actually kill him. Figuratively speaking I see this poem as meaning that it could have been a friendship if the problems were compromized and talked about but instead a secret war was started between these two people and the relationship between them was completely ruined. The author also uses a biblical allusion in some aspects of the poem. The entire poem is about a tree growing in a garden, a poison, or forbidden tree that obviously should not  be eaten  from if it is poisonous. His foe stole the apple from the tree and was found dead lying in its shadows. The biblical allusion aligns with the story of Adam and Eve in the secret garden. God's foe is sin or the devil. Adam and Eve commit a sin by eating from the forbidden tree and people are destroyed of being pure and sinless and original sin was born.
The structure of this poem is using an A,A,B,B rhyme scheme. There are four lines in every stanza and four stanzas. The structure of the poem adds to the impact it sets on the reader. It makes it easier to understand the situation that the character and his foe are in and the relationship between them. The character is "glad to see [his] foe outstretched beneath the tree" lines 15,16. The rhyme and the consistant stanza and line matching helps make the poem and the words flow together. When reading the poem out loud it is almost as if its a song.

1 comment:

  1. Good catch on the biblical allusion--go with it! :) I like your ideas with it.

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