William Blake's poem, "The Poison Tree", states the basis of morality in its simplest form. Blake takes one of the toughest emotions there is to deal with-anger, and blends it with the convicting power of Christianity. The proof lies in the first stanza, "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." In the Bible, God tells his people "...let not the sun go down upon your wrath" (Ephesians 4:26). The speaker of the poem avoids doing what he knows is right; instead, he makes his own path, which leads to evil. William Blake's use of words, along with the rhyme scheme and symbolism portray the true nature of man.
             Blake immediately displays the basis of the poem in the title: A Poison Tree. In Matthew 7, God speaks of his children "bearing fruit." He says, "wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Matthew 7:20). Man is the tree, and his actions are his "fruits". The speaker instantiously does two things wrong within the first stanza: he harbors his anger, which in turn, plants the seed for a corrupt tree.
             The simple rhyme scheme cushions in the growing of the tree. Friend/end implies that the good spirit of the speaker has diminished, while foe/grow foreshadows what is about to come. The speaker has abandoned his walk with God in exchange for worldly fulfillment.
             The anger takes root in the second stanza. First, the fears and tears water the seed morning and night. Then, his deceitful smiles provide the sunlight. The rhyme scheme, again, pounds the emotions into the reader's mind: fears/tears, smiles/wiles. It is clever how Blake continues to label his anger "it" throughout the poem. It gives the reader the leeway to picture the anger as an actual image, the young tree.
             The maturing tree grows rapidly in the following stanza,...