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Question: Can someone explain "The Poison Tree" to me!?
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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
I see this as an allegory for the difference between resolving differences in an adult way, discussion, openness, honesty and agreement, and the perils of harbouring grudges!.

In the first stanza he has a problem with his friend, he is angry!. He tells his friend and the problem is solved, the anger dies!.

He then has a problem with his foe, he is angry again!. This time however, he does not go to his foe and discuss the problem, but instead harbours the grudge, cherishes it and feeds it on resentments and fear and ignorance!. The anger grows and grows until such time as it poisons his thinking!.

The image here is that the anger attains a life, a momentum of it's own!. It is out of his control and will attack or destroy his enemy without his input!. Sure enough, in the poem he finds his enemy dead as if killed by an outside force, his 'anger' !.

It is as if he is saying "It wasn't me, it was that anger thing over there that did it!"

The message is that anger, hidden, will grow and become a poison within you, bearing poisonous fruit and resulting in consequences outside of your control!.


I hope this helps!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I can't better this explanation from a person called Vivian given on a poetry website:

"Taking off from the subject of friendship, Blake goes into the nature of
enmity!. There is no one like Blake for talking about the darker emotions --
anger, hatred, Schadenfreude!. The "apple bright" in the garden brings to
mind the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; Man is crueller
than the God of Genesis and inflicts death rather than banishment from
Paradise!."
Hope that helps!.
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it's a representative metaphor, a simple description that gives more clarity to an evolving process, a simplified basic frame of reference!. in this case, it is a process of a growing corruption, from the roots of ignorance, misunderstanding, illusion, bad influences, misconception, deceit, deception, greed, avarice, disadvantage, restricted choices, false promise,etc!. all of these motivators, desires for money, success, power,status,and control (roots),ambitions, entwining into a sturdy growing form,, character and structure shape, out of the founding earth of human activities, hopes dreams, desires, self interest, and human efforts, a trunk raises upward out of the melee, branching and spreading outward!. seizing, parasiting, draining the rewards of others hard labors, for it's own self interests, profit, power, and strength!. the harvest or results from such a creation are called the fruit of a poison tree!.!. in scriptural reference to the tree man should not partake of the fruit there of!. to partake of the poison tree, is to eat poison fruit and therefore be corrupted spiritualy!. god gave us a tree that was not corrupt in the m the gardens of our eden, and by spiritual corruption we lost it over time in the past!. the parable is a cautionary warning for all generations to learn from!.as adam might have remarked later: don't swallow everything your handed, examine and think before you bite!. digg !!!Www@QuestionHome@Com