Lyn Tiernan Romanticism Year 10

Worksheet on A Poison Tree for Year 10

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Romantic poets explored human feelings and emotions in powerful ways.
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Lesson objectives (expectations of learning):

Read and analyse A Poison Tree by William Blake
Investigate a reading of the poem.
Create a personal reading of the poem.
Explain a reading of the poem.

Remember to annotate the poem as you work through the questions.

The title: A Poison Tree

Mind map the title. Remember, most titles are metaphorical they represent ideas and
themes in the text. Think of the different connotations of the words in the title, both
individually and as a group. Consider the use of definite or indefinite articles (the or a).
look for connections between the things you have brainstormed. What does the mindmap
suggest about the ideas in the poem?

Verse 1
Look up range of meanings of foe and wrath. How is a foe different to a friend? Who would
use the word wrath and why? How are anger and wrath different? What could the speaker
mean when he says I told my wrath? How is this line contrasted to I told it not?

Blake uses a structure that balances one phrase against another. read the definitions of
literary devices below. Which best describes what Blake does in this first verse? explain
your reasoning.

APPOSITION Placing in immediately succeeding order of two or more coordinate elements, the latter of which
is an explanation, qualification, or modification of the first (often set off by a colon). Paine: These are the
times that try mens souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will in this crisis, shrink from the
service of his country; but he that stands it Now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

ANTITHESIS Balancing words, phrases, or ideas that are strongly contrasted, often by means of grammatical
structure.

Verse 2
What is it in the first line? How can you water this thing? What is being suggested by
watered it with fears? What might these fears be?

What does the speaker mean when he says he sunned it with smiles? What might the
smiles represent in practical terms? What is he sunning? What does the sun do to living
things? How does Blake use the sun here?
Lyn Tiernan Romanticism Year 10

What are wiles? How are they deceitful? What do you think the poet means here?

Sum up the verse in one sentence. The speaker in the poem is ..

Verse 3
How does Blake continue the metaphor of feeding anger? What fruit might come from
anger directed at another person? What kinds of things do you do when you really dislike
somebody or they have hurt you? What other apple is stolen in a bible story? Why do you
think Blake uses an apple here?

So what does Blake mean when he says And my foe beheld it shine?

What is the rhyme pattern in this poem? Would you say it was simple or complicated? Does
this simple rhyme and rhythm suit the topic of the poem? Why or why not?

Verse 4
What is the pole referred to here? What does the poet mean by night had veiled the pole?
So what did the enemy or foe actually do, remembering that the tree is a symbol of the
speakers anger?

How does the speaker have his revenge? Is the enemy really dead? How might he be dead in
a metaphorical way?

Do you think this is the best solution to anger and hatred? Why/why not?

Go back to the beginning of the poem. What solution does the poet suggest to anger towards
enemies? What has feeding anger done to the soul or character of the speaker?

Use this cloze passage to write your own set of notes on the poem.

In this poem Blake shows how the growth of suppressed ____________ poisons a
relationship and can lead to ______________. It is written in ________________
verses, each of four ______________ and has a regular _________________ scheme, a,
a, b, b. This rhyming scheme is effective because
___________________________________________________ .

A _________________ is made in the first verse between _______________ and

harboring resentment. In the second and third verses, the ___________ or anger is
compared to a _______________ . This use of ______________ emphasises the
________________ of the anger as it is ______________ and _______________ with
Lyn Tiernan Romanticism Year 10

fear and deceit. The _______________ of the word and adds to this image of
_______________ anger.

The _____________ symbolizes the forbidden fruit in the ___________ story of Adam
and Eve, with the foe stealing the fruit and being ________________. The tone is one of
anger and antagonism as Blake effectively shows the _____________________ of feeding
a grievance. He suggests that _______________________________________________
might be a better way do deal with anger.

Consider interpretations and create your own

Look at the word cloud below. This was created in Wordle.com using the poem The poison
tree by William Blake. Study the word cloud and answer the questions below.

What ideas in the poem are emphasised by the features of the word cloud (frequency of
words are increased size and boldness?

Word clouds can be manipulated for different effects such as direction of word, colour and
shape. What does this word cloud tell you about the readers interpretation?

Go to http://wordle.net/ Click on the Create link.

Lyn Tiernan Romanticism Year 10

Create your own word cloud that represents your ideas and feelings about A Poison Tree
what does it mean to you? Type in your response to the poem. Include quotes from the poem.
You can experiment with different layouts, fonts etc to express your personal reading of the
poem.

Print your creation or take a screen shot and paste it onto this document.
Write 50 words explaining your word cloud on the poem.

You can also save it to the Gallery as anonymous or subscribe and put in only your first name!