A Poison Tree

“A Poison Tree” was written by William Blake and published in his collection of poetry in 1794, which combined his Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience volumes (Kumar, Dharmender. “A Poison Tree by William Blake.” Poem Analysis, 3 Dec. 2015). In addition to writing poetry, Blake was also an artist specializing in painting, illustrating, and engraving. He wrote and worked during what has been labeled as the Romantic Period of English literature (1785-1832), so called because of its focus on the romance genre and reversion to medieval aesthetics and tropes. Blake is often grouped in with what was known as the “Big 6” poets of Romantic literature, sharing the spotlight with writers including William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and George Gordon, Lord Byron. These six writers were originally the primary focus of Romantic literary studies, though academics have expanded research to other authors and continue to include new writers in the literary canon. Besides an idealization of the past, literary works from the Romantic period tend to focus on the inner workings of the mind and imagination, emotions and feeling, nature, the supernatural, and the human being as an individual, among other traits.

Blake was both a literal and metaphorical visionary. Claiming to have seen visions of the deceased, angels, and God, Blake’s writings often feature theological themes as well as political and social commentary. A lyric poem—meaning it focuses on the thoughts and sentiments of the speaker—“A Poison Tree” easily fits in the Romantic canon with its focus on emotion and the disastrous effects that can occur when feelings are given free rein.

Poet Biography

William Blake was born in London in 1757 to James (a hosier) and his wife Catherine; both parents were nonconformists. His parents had seven children total, but only five lived beyond infancy. From his early childhood, Blake professed to see visions of God, the prophet Ezekiel, and angels. At an early age, Blake also exhibited artistic inclinations, and when he was 10 years old, his parents enrolled him at Henry Pars’s drawing school. When the school proved too much of a financial burden for his parents, at age 14, Blake was apprenticed to engraver James Brasire . Blake worked with Brasire from 1772-79, during which time he “was sent to Westminster Abbey to make drawings of tombs and monuments, where his lifelong love of gothic art was seeded” (“William Blake Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 May 2021). After his apprenticeship with Brasire ended, at 21 years old, he studied for a short time at the Royal Academy of Art’s School of Design and also worked as a “freelance” engraver for employers such as booksellers (“William Blake Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 May 2021.)

One of the most significant events of Blake’s life was when his brother Robert, with whom he was very close, died in 1787 from consumption/tuberculosis. Blake claimed to have seen Robert’s spirit leave its bodily form and ascend to heaven. Even after Robert’s death, Blake declared seeing his brother’s spirit, and even stated that it was said spirit who directed him in 1788

to produce his text and design on a copper plate with an impervious liquid. The plate was then dipped in acid so that the text and design remained in relief. The plate could be used to print on paper, and the final copy would then be hand colored. (“William Blake.” Poets.org.)

This style of printing and illustrating Blake named “illuminated printing”. Following Poetical Sketches, Blake used the aforementioned new style of “illuminated printing” to publish Songs of Innocence in 1789, and a combined edition of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience in 1794. Though the titles of both of these publications sound separate and distinct, Blake’s Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience often blur the lines between the two states. Some of Blake’s other publications include “Visions of the Daughters of Albion” published in 1793, The Book of Urizen published in 1794, and The Marriage of Heaven and Hell in 1790-1793. As Blake was writing during and following the French Revolution, his texts often include political themes and social commentary against tyranny (“William Blake.” Poets.org.) Blake also shared company with various political radicals such as Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin.

Blake began composing poetry at age 12; in 1783, he published his first collection of poems titled Poetical Sketches. The poems published in this first collection were compiled over a period of 14 years (“William Blake Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 May 2021, https://www.biography.com/writer/william-blake.). Also around this time, Blake married Catherine Boucher. In addition to being his wife, Boucher served as a sort of “apprentice” to Blake. He taught her how to read, write, and assist with his printing. After his marriage and following the death of his father in 1784, Blake attempted to start a printshop with James Parker, but the business was unsuccessful.

In 1800, Blake moved to Felpham. There, he worked for his patron William Hayley and was charged with sedition after forcibly removing a soldier named John Schofield from his property (“William Blake Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 May 2021, https://www.biography.com/writer/william-blake.). In 1803, Blake and his wife returned to London, and in 1804 he was acquitted of the sedition charge. His time at Felpham was not for naught, though, as he likewise attributed various spiritual experiences to this period of his life which inspired later publications. These “great visionary epics” included Milton (1804-1808), The Four Zoas (1797), and Jerusalem (1804-1820) (“William Blake.” Poets.org.)

During his final years, Blake exhibited his work and continued to produce engravings and commissions. His work did not always draw the most positive reviews; one critic called Blake an “unfortunate lunatic” (“William Blake Biography.” Biography.com, A&E Television Networks, 27 May 2021, https://www.biography.com/writer/william-blake.). As his confidence in his work dwindled, so did his finances. His final years were spent in the company of John Linnell and a group of aspiring artists called “the Ancients” who aided Blake with money and boosted his professional self-esteem. He met Linnell in 1818 and maintained contact with him and “the Ancients” until his passing in 1827. Up until he died, Blake’s final project was a series of drawings for Dante’s work.

Poem Text

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.

Blake, William. “A Poison Tree.” 1794, Project Gutenberg.

Summary

"A Poison Tree” by William Blake tells a classic tale of enmity and jealousy. Relayed through the perspective of a sole speaker, readers learn of the hatred and anger the speaker feels towards his proclaimed enemy. However, rather than trying to turn this hate into something more positive or productive, the speaker feeds his anger and hatred. He puts on an exterior of false congeniality in order to make his nemesis feel at ease. Beneath this facade, the speaker’s wrath grows and grows until it is strong enough to lure in the foe by masking itself as something enviable. The speaker’s enemy cannot resist the temptation and falls into the speaker’s trap, dying at his hands.