Poem – 5
A
POISON TREE
William Blake
Comprehension Questions
I. Answer the following questions briefly.
1) What happened when the speaker expressed his anger?
Ans: When the
speaker expressed his anger then the anger ended.
2) What happened when the speaker suppressed
his anger?
Ans: The speaker anger
grew when he suppressed his anger.
3) How are the results differ in the two
instances?
Ans: The two
instances differ in the results, in first instance the confusion got cleared
but in the second instance confusion grew.
4) When the poet is thinking about his anger,
the picture of a tree comes to his mind. Which word in the first stanza
suggests a tree?
Ans: The word “grow”
in the first stanza suggests a tree.
5) The speaker helped his anger to grow. The
second stanza mentions the different ways in which he helped his anger grow.
What are the different ways?
Ans: The speaker
watered the tree with tears and fears, sunned it with smiles and deceitful
wiles.
6) “Water’d it in fears” suggests that
a) the speaker did not have the courage to
express his anger
b) the speaker was afraid of the consequences
c) the speaker didn’t want to displease his
enemy
Ans: a) the speaker
did not have the courage to express his anger
a) the speaker too suffered for suppressing
his anger
b) the enemy suffered
c) the speaker had to go through a lot of anxiety
Ans: c) the speaker
had to go through a lot of anxiety.
8) “sunned it with smiles” suggests that
a) the speaker cunningly hid his anger with
bright smiles
b) the speaker pretended that he was not
angry
c) the speaker let his anger grow secretly
Ans: a) the speaker
cunningly hid his anger with bright smiles.
9) Which line tells you that the speaker is a
scheming and cunning friend?
Ans: And I sunned it with smiles
And
with soft deceitful wiles.
10) The second stanza continues the image
(picture) of a tree suggested in the first stanza. Which words in the second
stanza refer to a growing?
Ans: “Water’d I and sunned it’ are the words in the
second stanza referring to a growing.
11) The poet so far, has been talking about
a) his suppressed anger
b) a growing tree
c) both
Ans: a) his
suppressed anger.
12) What kind of a tree and fruit (her apple)
can grow when they are nurtured by fears, tears, hypocritical smiles and
deceitful wiles?
Ans: A poison tree and
poisonous fruit (her apple) can grow when they are nurtured by fears, tears, hypocritical
smiles and deceitful wiles.
13) The word “it” occurs in all the four
lines of the 3rd stanza. What does “it” refer to in each line?
Ans: “it” refers to
the anger the speaker had for his enemy that he permitted to grow into a poison
tree and fruit.
14) “Apple” in the poem refers to
a) the forbidden but tempting apple in the
garden of Eden (in The Bible)
b) the consequence of suppressing anger
c) the fruit of his enmity
Ans: b) the
consequence of suppressing anger.
15) The apple is “bright” because
a) it is intended to attract the foe
b) it is intended to tempt the foe
c) it is cunningly devised to hide the
bitterness
Ans: c) it is
cunningly devised to hide the bitterness.
16) Who “stole” into the speaker’s garden?
Ans: The speaker’s
garden was stolen by the speaker’s enemy.
17) The word “stole” means
a) that the enemy stole the apple
b) that the enemy entered the speaker’s
garden stealthily
Ans: b) that the
enemy entered the speaker’s garden stealthily.
18) What does the speaker see in the morning?
Ans: The speaker
sees his enemy lying dead under the apple tree in the morning.
19) Why, do you think, “dies” at the end? Is
it only the enemy? Does the speaker also die? What kind of death does he die?
Ans: The hatred for
his enemy dies. The speaker’s enemy dies in the end, physically. The speaker’s
anger also dies.
20) “A Poison Tree” could refer to
a) the tree of hatred and enmity grew by the
seed of suppressed anger
b) the destructive effect of being
hypocritical and deceitful
c) the
spiritual death of a person for nurturing base passions
Ans: All of the
above.
B. Close Study:
Read the following extracts .carefully.
Discuss in pairs and then write the answers to the questions given below them:
a) Who stole into the garden?
b) Why did he steal into the garden?
c) Explain the phrase ‘veiled the pole’.
Ans: a) The
speaker’s enemy stole into the garden.
b) The speaker’s
enemy wanted to eat the apple so he stole it.
c) It means to
cover.
2) And I sunned it with smiles and with soft
deceitful wiles
a) What does the word “sunned’ suggest?
b) Explain the phrase “deceitful wiles.”
c) Why had the speaker “sunned” it?
Ans: a) It means to
nourish and to grow.
b) It means to
deceive someone or to play tricks on his enemy.
c) The anger was
not expressed by the speaker and he betrayed him with a smile and he allowed
his anger to grow and nourish until it bore an apple.
III. Paragraph Writing
Discuss, in pairs or groups of 4 each, the
answers to the following questions. Note down the important points and then
develop them into a paragraph.
Ans: In this poem “A
Poison Tree” the speaker unable to represent his anger with his enemy. He kept
it in his heart and allowed it to grow with his deceitful tears, fears and
sunned it with smiles and it grew into a poison tree and bore an apple on it. The
speaker tricked on his enemy and made him to proceed toward the apple tree. The
speaker’s enemy stealthily he went to garden one night and was attracted by
that beautiful apple bright. He took that apple and ate it and died. The hatred
for his enemy dies. The speaker’s enemy dies in the end, physically. The
speaker’s anger also dies.
(memorization)
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 waterd it in fears,
Night & 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 veild
the pole;
In the morning glad I
see;
My foe outstretched beneath
the tree.
