Symbolism in William Blakes “the Rose”
Essay title: Symbolism in William Blakes “the Rose”
In William Blake’s poem, “A Poison Tree”, Blake presents a story of developing anger, and the consequences of this anger if left unexpressed. Blake employs many metaphors to get the story across, some of which pertain to certain biblical imagery. The title of the poem itself uses “Tree” as a metaphor for growth or development. Thus, the poem is about a poisonous growth, which in this case, is anger.
The first 4 lines of the poem set the theme for the poem. They read “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.” These lines themselves are pretty straightforward. The voice of the poem tells how his anger is growing, and when he told someone about it, his anger dissipated. In the last two lines, he goes on to explain how he had anger for a “foe” who he didn’t express his anger towards. The voice then says how his anger has grown further