analysis of A Poison Tree by William Blake
... In William Blake’s A Poison Tree, Blake suggests that holding a grudge or suppressing one’s wrath can be destructive to the self and the object of the wrath. ... The forbidden fruit in the poem is similar to that from the Tree of Forbidden Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. ... The foe sneaks into the garden and steals the forbidden fruit, but because it is dark he does not realize the tree or ‘pole’ is poisonous and will lead to his death. The speaker is satisfied to find his foe lying dead beneath the tree because his plan has worked and now his anger is gone. ... The darkness of “the night had veiled the pole”(14), or masking the tree inhibiting his ability to see the tree is poisonous. Blake’s A Poison Tree, depicts how anger is internalized and suppressed so long that it can fester and develop a life of its own.