The first stanza shows In choosing a poem from the English Romanticism era, I found one that particularly stands among others. A poem that had some depth, in that I couldn't understand and feel what the poem was expressing at first glance. It is a poem that had a sense of mystery around it. These characteristics are exceptionally evident in William Blake's poem "A Poison tree." William Blake was a British poet and painter born in 1757 to a father who was hosier. "Anger," "wrath," and "fear" are very prominent in the short sixteen-line piece and engulf you from the start. In this paper, there will be an argument that "A Poison Tree" is a symbol for the lack of restraint and self-control in man. An argument that Blake, if referring to himself in the poem, uses himself as the serpent from the Garden of Eden, except as a serpent with a conscious. The f

The third stanza reads, "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".Blake's foe "beheld it shine." If his enemy saw the apple then one must conclude that this man was Blake's adversary before he watered and nurtured the tree. Knowing that is crucial because it helps to understand the first stanza fully. For example, if Blake were mad at his enemy only because he stole from his tree, then the first stanza would serve as summary to the upcoming three stanzas. The first stanza is not a summary but an introduction to the rest of the story in the poem. With the third stanza understood, one can now go back to my original question of the tree. Is the tree a representation of the tree of good and evil, the tree of life, or neither? Since both trees in the Garden of Eden contained fruit as Blake's does, that only adds to the remarkable similarity in imagery that Blake is using in reference to the Garden of Eden. There is still not enough evidence to make a convincing case either way. An instrumental line in the third stanza is in line thirteen, which states, "And my foe beheld it shine" . Evidence is given to the fact that the apple is tempting. By the apply shining, imagery of a very alluring and breathtaking fruit is constructed. Blake does this to create even more reinforcement to the fact that he is playing the part of the serpent. Blake was the one who created this captivating apple and his purpose was to entice his rival to his downfall.

The second stanza reads, "And I waterd it in fears,/ Night & morning with my tears:/ And I sunned it with smiles./ And with soft deceitful wiles". This stanza is completely centered on the tree that the "foe" would later steal an apple from. Blake's is obviously making a symbol and allegory in reference to the Bible and the Garden of Eden. Now the question is whether the Blake's tree symbolizes, from the Bible, the tree of good and evil or the tree of life. Does it even matter which tree was being symbolized here? These are questions that should be answered to fully understand the poem. Some knowledge of the Bible is in order to accomplish this. One tree from the Garden of Eden is the tree of good and evil; this is the tree from which Eve took the fruit (however not an apple) and shared it with Adam. Satan, in the form of a serpent, tempted Eve by telling her that she would be wise and know the difference between good and evil if she ate the fruit off the tree. The second tree is the tree of life which also contains fruit, that if eaten will bring the eater eternal life. Because Adam and Eve ate from the tree of good and evil, they were not allowed to eat from the tree of life and therefore banished from Eden. From the second stanza alone, it is impossible to make a reference towards what tree is being referred to. Interesting is that Blake states, "And I waterd it in fears". Blake's "wrath" was accompanied with "fear." Fear from what? Could it be the fear from Blake's foe? Or could it be fear that fruit from the tree could be stolen? One can assume that Blake's fear stems for his actions in lines 6-9; "Night & morning with my tears:/ And I sunned it with smiles./ And with soft deceitful wiles" Blake was fearful of his actions that would ultimately produce a "poison tree" that could entice and inflict pain on his enemy. Blake is showing some signs of a conscious such as creating something that was tempting and yet also deadly. However, the one instrumental difference from the Bible is that the serpent never had a conscious. Blake mentions that he, referring to the tree, "sunned it with smiles./ And with soft deceitful wiles" . It is Blake's "deceitful wiles" that allow him to nurture this poison tree and return the deceit that Blake has received to his "foe." It is important to note that Blake's enemy didn't become so by stealing an apple from his tree. Blake was already angry with this man. Evidence of this can be

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Approximate Word count = 5150
Approximate Pages = 21 (250 words per page double spaced)