A Poison Tree Analysis
Brynn Martinson
A Poison Tree
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 & 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.
Poetic Devices
Alliteration: "Sunned it with smiles" This emphasizes how the speaker's anger was growing
Rhyme: The first 2 lines of each stanza rhyme and the last 2 lines of each stanza rhyme. Each stanza has a different sound at the end of the word that rhymes. This creates a rhythm.
Rhythm: This rhythm is created by the rhyming and creates a dreary and sad mood.
Metaphor: "And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright." This is comparing the speaker's anger to an apple and shows how much the speaker's anger has grown. The title is an extended metaphor because the speaker's anger is overall being compared to a tree growing more and more.
Idiom: The second stanza is an idiom. It is an idiom because rhe speaker is not literally watering it anger with fears or sunning it with smiles, what the poem is actually saying is that the speaker's anger is growing.