A Poison Tree

Question 1

I was angry with my foe \ I told it not, my wrath did grow

Answer 1

• Personification of wrath
• Intimidating - connotations of dominance, monopoly, lack of control and monstrosity
• Simplicity - ease at which one can become immoral
• Active voice - agency, responsibility and consciousness.
• Anaphora - reader must contemplate the options before making decisions in their own lives
• Did - definitive, final
• Wrath - seven deadly sins, make sinning easy

Question 2

Alternating meter = Trochaic and Iambic Tetrameter

Answer 2

• Trochaic - unnatural, not ended - wrath is not normal
• Iambic - natural, completed used when talking about eliminating wrath
• Highlights how wrath is not meant to exist.

Question 3

And I water’d it in fears, \ Night and morning with my tears:

Answer 3

• Allowing wrath to grow - giving it power, pride, smug
• Active voice - responsibility for growth, takes on its own being = sentience?
• Nurturing - care?
• Morning - all consuming, routine - motivation = calming, meticulous
• Tears - inner conflict - unwillingness, unintentional, lack of fault
• Water’d - religious - connotations of forgiveness and cleansing

Question 4

Rhyming Couplets

Answer 4

Targeted at children

Question 5

And my foe beheld it shine, \ And he knew that it was mine

Answer 5

• Mine - Pride
• Places responsibility on the foe - wrath has destroyed rationality
• Shine - celestial, level of deception
• No end stopped lines - uncontrollable nature of wrath, speeds up pace - speed of progression
• Shine - highlights how consuming wrath is, temptation, symbolic of original sin

Question 6

In the morning glad I see \ My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Answer 6

• Outstretched - contorted, painful, became wrath - hate becomes uncontrollable
• Imagery - product of unchecked wrath
• End-stopped line - wrath is finally over but must reach death first

Question 7

Ambiguous persona

Answer 7

Represents humanity is left unchecked - challenges British ideologies of ignoring emotions.