"A Poison Tree"
By: William Blake
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.
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
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.
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see,
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Line by Line Translation
"A Poison Tree"
By: William Blake
He's angry with his friend, but he let it out, and everything
was forgiven.
He's angry with an enemy and kept it in, but all it did
was make him angrier.
What happened with this wrath is that it became a seed
for "a poison tree"
His fears about the enemy helped the tree grow.
His tears he cried in anger helped the tree grow.
Pretending to ignore his anger with smiles helped the
tree grow.
His anger collected until the tree grew and produced
a bright apple.
His enemy then grew jealous because he knew it was his.
His enemy snuck into the garden one night and stole
the apple and ate it.
From a poison tree, the apple was deadly, and the enemy
died.
