The first stanza juxtaposes the idea of friend and foe in a rather elegant way. The stanza reads, "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" (Songs of Experience Pg.38). The contrast in actions relating to a "friend" in distinction to a "foe," is the relevant theme in this stanza. The different ways in which Blake, if he indeed i

"A Poison Tree" is the ideal poem for Blake's Songs of Experience. Blake realizes that innocence is not just purely good or experience purely evil. Although Blake uses "A Poison Tree" to point out the lack of self-control and restraint in man, he also shows the tempter, the serpent, with a conscious, which differs from the Bible greatly. Overall, I believe that the poem is one of Blake's best works from Songs of Experience. I feel that Blake's use of imagery, allegory, symbolism and illustration really set this poem apart from others.

The problem is that death does not directly come from eating off the tree of good and evil. However, Blake deliberately left room for speculation on how the man ultimately ended up "outstrecthd beneath the tree." Adam and Eve were eventually banished from the Garden of Eden for eating from the tree of good and evil and ultimately denied eternal life. In a sense, the tree was responsible for their downfall just as Blake's tree could be seen as the reason for his foe's demise. Not only did the apple lead to the man's downfall, but also the lack of restraint that is a symbol of the desertion of self-control in all man.

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.

Blake mentions that he, referring to the tree, "sunned it with smiles./ And with soft deceitful wiles" (Songs of Experience Pg.39). 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 seen in third stanza.

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" (Songs of Experience Pg.39). 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 th

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Approximate Word count = 1784
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)