William Blake's "A Poison Tree" is a very simple poem, but within it is a most valuable moral lesson learned. It contains a central metaphor that explains a truth of human nature. In this poem, Blake conveys that holding a grudge can be harmful to oneself and especially the hated object. Through images and word choice, Blake shows that keeping silent of our true feelings of anger and hatred hinders personal growth, but in itself, begins the life of a dangerous–even murderous–force.
             In the first stanza, each couplet is formed exactly the same, but substituting four words alters the meaning, from the ending of anger with the "friend" to the continuous anger with the "foe." In line 4, the speaker says "I told it not, my wrath did grow." Throughout the rest of the poem, the speaker's wrath can be assumed to be metaphorically compared to a growing plant–the tree of the title. This plant is watered by "fears" and "tears" which encourage his hatred. This tree of hatred–poisonous tree–has a body formed of ill-mannered, harmful, and deceitful thoughts.
             In the end, the "poison" tree bears a single fruit–a poisonous fruit from a poisonous tree: "an apple bright." This apple draws the attention of the speaker's foe, and although there is no definite description as to what happens next, the speaker's foe is dead, lying underneath the "poison" tree. This apple could be an allusion to many other apples that have caused trouble and even brought death. In the story of Adam and Eve, they eat an apple, a fruit from the "tree of knowledge," which causes God to throw them out of the Garden. There is also the golden apple that Paris gave to Aphrodite, which would eventually start the Trojan War. The apple was foreshadowing a grim outcome in the poem.
             As well as a foreshadowing devi...