by William Blake Starter Task Explain how each of these pictures links to the poem LO To make detailed notes on themes language and form amp structure 1 2 3 4 5 A Poison Tree by William Blake ID: 621666
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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
1
2
3
4
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