A Poison Tree William Blake

What does the apple symbolize?

• The happiness of the persona's foe

• The persona’s passion for gardening

• The persona’s anger

• The interest and curiosity of the persona's foe

Which line indicates that the persona’s wrath increased over time?

• 'Night & morning with my tears'

• 'Till it bore an apple bright'

• 'I was angry with my foe'

• 'And it grew both day and night'

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

These two lines convey to the reader—

• The persona’s way of pretending to be friendly in order to bring his enemy closer

• How the sun makes the persona smile

• The persona’s explanation for his rage

• Why the persona seeks revenge against his friends

What is the theme of the poem?

• Gardening helps people let go of anger

• Patience and tolerance are important to solve problems

• It is important to express your anger or it will only intensify and get worse

• Allowing anger to grow can be considered healthy

In the end of the poem, what happens to the persona’s foe?

• The persona and his foe become friends

• The persona continues to grow apple trees

• The persona finds his foe taking a nap beneath the apple tree

• The persona finds his foe dead beneath the apple tree

What does stanza 1 through stanza 4 of the poem tell the reader?

• The persona’s unwillingness to share his frustration with his enemy causes his anger to increase

• The persona wishes he could share with his friend how irritated he is

• The persona has a difficult time speaking with people

• The persona has an increasing amount of furry towards his friend and enemy

Throughout the poem, the persona compares his escalating anger to --

• a garden

• plowing a field

• growing an apple tree

• building a water fountain

Why is 'and' repeated three times in stanza 2?

• Persona's refusal to let go of his anger

• Because the persona stopped being angry

• Persona's satisfaction of his efforts

• Persona goes to great pain to gain his enemy's trust

Which of the following is one of the themes of the poem?

• Importance of truthfulness

• Suppressing forgiveness

• Suppressing anger

• Rationality and moderation

What is the personality of the persona?

• An ironic and boastful person

• A greedy and hot-tempered person

• An irritable person

• A veiled and deceitful person