William Blake's "A Poison Tree"

William Blake's "A Poison Tree" is a poem about anger and various ways to deal with it. In the poem, the narrator has been both angry with a friend and a foe. However, he deals with the anger in different ways. When it comes to his friend, he "tells his wrath" and therefore his wrath ends. However, he chooses not to tell his wrath when he is angry at his foe, and therefore, his wrath grows. In the poem, Blake is comparing anger, or wrath, to a tree. A seed of emotion, be it anger or what have you, can be planted or placed without much conscious effort. A person may do something unknowingly that makes you angry or upset, but you will typically react differently based on your relationship with that person. If someone that you already dislike does something to upset you, you will most likely take this act quite personally. You might think that they have done this thing specifically to upset you, and therefore your anger will build and build upon itself. This emotion is your metaphorical seed, and your building anger is the water which causes the emotion, or "tree", to grow. If your best friend or a close family member does something that upsets you, chances are you will still get angry. However, you will typically think differently of their actions. You will see it as a misunderstanding, a mistake, or just generally choose to forgive the person because you care for them and don't want to damage your relationship. In this case, you are choosing not to water your metaphorical "emotional tree". The seed of anger/upset is still planted, but without the continuing watering by you, it won't grow into anything severe or poisonous. In the poem, the narrator's anger at his foe grows into a poisonous tree, which his foe eats from and dies. The narrator was glad to see this and rejoiced that his anger had caused his foe pain. This is a severe example, but I think this poem can also be related to everyday altercations with people. What you water will grow, and what you don't will not. We choose everyday to water different emotions and to withhold water from others, and our decision of what to and what not to water directly impacts what grows and develops in our lives.