A Poison Tree Poem Lines Explanation & Short Summary MCQ PDF

A POISON TREE BY WILLIAM BLAKE - 9TH ENGLISH POEM LINES EXPLANATION & SUMMARY FOR GENERAL ENGLISH TNPSC GROUP 2 - 2A 2022 PRELIMINARY EXAM WITH MODEL MCQ PDF#Blog-76

Apr 02, 2022, By Careericons

In this article, we have complied with very important information on the "A Poison Tree Poem Written by William Blake" for the current TNPSC Group 2, 2A 2022 Preliminary Examination. Get complete study material for all General English syllabus wise with subject topics which help to clear this preliminary exam 2022.

1. Important Poem Lines in A Poison Tree ,
2. Line By Line Simple Explanation & Summary of the poem - A Poison Tree, &
3. Where to study information for all other poems.

TNPSC Group-II / IIA Services 2022 New Revised Syllabus (Objective Type Examination)

General English Syllabus-wise Study Materials

SSLC Standard For Preliminary Exam

Before going to the poem, check the prelims syllabus carefully and understand the importance of this poem. Where this poem comes under the "Part - B" of the General English of Revised New Syllabus of TNPSC G2 & 2A Services Examination 2022. Also, check the below links which will be useful for your upcoming examination.

Click Here → To Download TNPSC Group 2 & 2A 2022 - Official Notification PDF** Link

Line By Line Simple Explanation for the poem,
"A Poison Tree"

Introduction:

The poem 'A Poison Tree' is one of the most wonderful and appreciated works of William Blake. It was published in the year 1794 in his collection of Songs Of Experience, which talks about various emotions of humans. 'A Poison Tree' forces you to look deep down inside your own self. It makes you ask a question to yourself – you often forgive your friends; would you ever forgive an enemy?

Explanation for the Stanza-1:

The poet is not only expressing his anger towards his friend as well as his foe in this stanza, but he has also depicted the difference between the two types of anger. He states that when you are angry with a friend, you convince your heart to forgive him. Even though you are hurt and you know that he did injustice to you, you try your best to forget the past and end the feeling of vengeance in your heart.

On the other hand, when you are angry with an enemy, it takes ages for you to calm your anger. Yet, the anger and the feeling of vengeance do not diminish, even with time. In fact, the vengeance simply grows.

Explanation for the Stanza-2:

The poet is making a confession in this stanza of 'A Poison Tree' – it is he, who is solely responsible for the hatred that has grown in his heart for his enemy. It is he, who has increased the vengeance in his heart. He has nurtured the hatred with his fears, spending hours together, crying for the ill that has been caused to him by his enemy.

He has also nurtured the hatred with his sarcastic smiles, imagining ill and cursing his enemy to go through the same or worse sufferings that he has been through.

Explanation for the Stanza-3:

The poet states that it is because of his dwelling in the same hatred, that it has grown every day. The hatred gave birth to an apple. The fruit signifies the evil that has taken birth in the heart of the poet. He states that he has now come to a point from where he can't turn back and forget about his enemy until he does something to soothe his vengeance.

Finally, the day comes when the poet's enemy has met the evil fruit of vengeance, and he has grown with his fears, tears, and sarcasm. The fruit has now turned into a weapon. When the enemy confronts this anger, it is time for the weapon to serve the purpose that it has been made for.

Explanation for the Stanza-4:

And, so the poet states, the very next morning, the purpose is served. When the poet wakes up and glimpses the garden, he sees something that relaxes his mind and calms his vengeance forever. The darkness of the night acted as an invisible cloak for the poet. Now, it is a beautiful morning.

There he is; his enemy, dead under the tree of his hatred. He bit the poisoned apple of his vengeance. He is murdered.

A Poison Tree - Pome Short Summary:

In ‘A Poison Tree’ William Blake describes how to handle anger both with a friend and an enemy. The poet has given the readers a very valuable lesson how to handle conflict. Blake also helps the readers by clearly explaining the ill effects of holding malice inside oneself.

The first stanza speaks about two types of anger. One that was against a friend and one against an enemy. When the anger was against a friend, he took pain to explain his feelings and so the conflict was resolved. The anger ended. The other was against his enemy. He did not like him. He held the anger inside and did not express it. He also did not try to express it to others and find a solution. Resentment began to grow inside.

The second stanza talks about the anger which grew as a poison tree. The poet cultivated his anger, watered his budding tree with fear and tears every day and night. The enemy did not know of this growing fury. Deceptively the poet employed his smiles as though it was sun to this toxic tree.

With charm he cleverly did not allow interjection or awareness of his wrath. Third stanza tells how he nurtured the tree. Anger poisoned the human spirit, furthermore, it endangered the ability to use logical reasoning. Finally the tree bore the fruit of fury in the form of a beautiful, appealing apple. The enemy of the poet planned to stealthily eat the fruit of the tree.

In the final stanza, the enemy was lured by the fruit of that poison tree. Without the knowledge of the poet, the enemy ate the fruit of fury and was found dead the next day under the tree. The poet does not seem to worry about the loss. Blake uses the poem as a warning to those who harbour grudges and allow the feelings of resentment to stay inside without dealing with them. Expressing the feelings is the only Way to avoid the fruit of poison tree.

The importance of reading this poem "A Poison Tree" written by "William Blake" is clearly described in the revised new syllabus as shown below,

1. This poem comes under the "Part-B" of the General English New Revised Syllabus.
2. It's also noticed separately in the "List of Poems". Where it consists of 25 poems & this poem is listed as number 8.

General English Syllabus-Wise Study Materials which includes, Part - B (Poetry)

1. Figures of Speech for A Poison Tree (Alliteration – Simile – Metaphor – Personification – Onomatopoeia – Anaphora – Rhyme Scheme – Rhyming Words – Repetition, etc.)
2. Poetry Appreciation for A Poison Tree
3. Important Lines for A Poison Tree

Source: Official TNPSC Group 2 2A - Syllabus & Notification 2022.

Let us discuss & read the poem A Poison Tree written by William Blake (Which is also a peom in Unit - 2 of 9th standard of Tamil Nadu Samacheer Books) in detail with all examples of model questions asked in the previous TNPSC examinations.

Click Here → To Download TNPSC Group 2 & 2A 2022 - Official Notification PDF** Link

Refer: Read all TNPSC Group 2 & 2A subjects with study materials, Live MCQ test & quiz for all syllabus wise topics.