Poem A Poison Tree : Meaning By Stanza, Themes, Moral Values

Meaning by Stanza
Stanza 1 opens with how the persona was angry with his friend. He told his friend about his anger
and the anger then disappeared. The persona then goes on to describe a scenario when he was
angry with his enemy. He did not tell his enemy that he was angry, thus, his anger kept on growing!

In stanza 2, the persona talks more on how his anger grows. He compares his growing anger to a
growing plant where he waters the plant with his fears and his tears. However, he did not give it real
sunshine. He merely gives smiles and deceitful wiles. A wile is a cunning trick. Here, it suggests that
he may be planning some sort of a devious scheme for his enemy- and this deceitful scheme is just
like the sunshine for the growing plant.

Stanza 3 describes how the persona’s efforts eventually bore fruit. The fruit is the apple bright. The
enemy clearly recognises that the fruit belongs to the persona.

Stanza 4 reveals that the enemy had seen the apple and stole it. The enemy had stolen the apple
during the night when it was dark as the “pole” – the North Star was all covered up. Thus, the star
was not visible-to guide the enemy out of the danger. The enemy eats the apple and most probably
– he dies.

Themes
1. Managing Anger
It is not totally wrong to be angry. However, it is rather important for us to know how to deal with
anger. If we nurture our anger, it might grow and be harmful to us. In this poem, two ways of handling
anger were shown with different outcomes. In the first scenario, the anger disappeared but in the
second the anger grew into something aggressive and negative.

2. Importance of Communication
As shown in the poem, if the persona had communicated with his enemy, his anger would have
been controlled. However, his refusal to communicate has allowed anger to become something that
is very destructive. Therefore it is often better if we can communicate with people on the issues that
is bugging us. The poet indirectly is trying to persuade his readers to talk about their anger. We can
talk about it not only with our friends but with our enemies too. If we talk, the anger might just reduce
and it might just ease our troubles. In turn, it will prevent us from causing hurt unto others.

Moral Values
1. The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding- When there is a
misunderstanding, we should talk about it to resolve our differences.
2. Harbouring ill feelings against someone- We shouldn't harbour ill feelings against anyone.
3. Forgiving and forgetting- When there is a misunderstanding, we must forgive and forget.
4. Bottling up ill feelings- Bottling up ill feelings is bad for us and those around us. Keep you
emotion in check.

https://colourfutures.blogspot.com/2017/10/poem-poison-tree-meaning-by-stanza.html

Prepared by: Chua HK