A Poison Tree - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

A Poison Tree by William Blake

Starter TaskExplain how each of these pictures links to the poem

LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure

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5Slide2

A Poison Tree by William Blake

Themes

LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structureI 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.

And I watered it in fears,Night and morning with my tears;And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,Till it bore an apple bright.And my foe beheld it shine.

And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stoleWhen the night had veiled the pole;

In the morning glad I seeMy foe outstretched beneath the tree.

Anger

This poem is about anger. How we deal with anger is very important

The first stanza contrasts 2 different ways of dealing with anger and two different outcomes that may occur as a result.

Deception

The speaker does not speak about his feelings to his enemy and bottles his emotions up. The enemy then sneaks into his garden to steal the fruit. The word ‘stole’ shows that the foe sneaks in & also reminds us that this is an act of theft.

Language & Communication

This is a warning about what can happen if you do not communicate your feelings. Equally, the poet is communicating this important message to us.Slide3

A Poison Tree by William Blake

Form & StructureLO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure

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.And I watered it in fears,

Night and morning with my tears;And I sunned it with smiles,And with soft deceitful wiles

.And it

grew both day and

night,Till it bore an apple bright.And my foe beheld it shine.And he knew that it was mine

,And into my garden stoleWhen the night had veiled the pole;

In the morning glad I seeMy foe outstretched beneath the tree.

4 stanzas

Each stanza = 2 pairs of rhyming couplets

Regular repeated pattern of AABB

This straightforward and simple structure contrasts with the very complex human emotions he is describing

Iambic tetrameter

A stressed

s

yllable followed by an unstressed syllable (iamb)

4 in each line (tetra)Creates a ‘da DUM da DUM da DUM da DUM’ rhythmLike a nursery rhyme

Gives the poem a childish feeling – contrasts to the serious adult themes in the poem

Iambs (stressed syllables)Slide4

A Poison Tree by William Blake

Language & ImageryLO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structure

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

.

And I watered it in fears,Night and morning with my tears;

And I sunned it with smiles,And with soft deceitful wiles

.And it grew both day and night,Till it bore an apple bright.

And my foe beheld it shine.And

he knew that it was mine,And

into my garden stoleWhen the night had veiled the pole;In the morning glad I seeMy foe outstretched beneath the tree.

The language is very simple

All of the words in stanza 1 are monosyllables (only have 1 syllable) except for the word ‘anger’ which is repeated twice

Emphasises

emotion and the two different ways the speaker deals with this emotion

All lines in stanza 1 start with ‘I’

Emphasises

this is a personal story told from an individual point of view

7 other lines begin with ‘And’

Helps the story to build and increase intensity

Resembles a child telling a story

All of this makes it seem like a children’s nursery rhyme with a serious moral message to conveySlide5

A Poison Tree by William Blake

LO: To make detailed notes on themes, language and form & structureI 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.And I watered it in fears,Night and morning with my tears;And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.And it grew both day and night,

Till it bore an apple bright.And my foe beheld it shine.And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stoleWhen the night had veiled the pole;In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree.

What poems would you compare this to in the anthology? Think about:

Era

Themes

Imagery Tone

Viewpoint

Poem to compare

Reasons

Evidence