Line by line Meaning
Stanza 1- I had a misunderstanding with my friend and was angry. I told my friend about my wrath. I got over my anger
and forgot it. But when I got angry with my foe, I didn't tell him about it. I bottled up my wrath and it intensified. It grew and
grew like a plant.
Stanza 2- My anger grew like a tree. I nourished my anger-tree with anger, suspicion and hatred. I was suspicious of my
foe and I was angry with him. But I tricked him to bring him closer to me. Outwardly, I smiled and I was friendly to gain his
trust.
Stanza 3- My "tree" was poisonous because it was full of anger, hatred and suspicion. Later, it bore a shiny poison apple.
My foe saw it and knew it was mine.
Stanza 4- One night when there were no stars, my foe came into my garden and stole my poison apple. He fell into my
trap. He ate the apple and died. In the morning, I was happy to see him lying dead under my poison tree.
Summary of the Poem
In this poem, the persona is angry after a misunderstanding with his friend and his foe. He talks about the
misunderstanding with his friend and gets over his anger. But he doesn't talk about his anger to his foe, so his anger
increases and grows into an anger-plant.
The persona treats his growing anger like a growing plant. He feeds the seed of his "plant" with anger and hatred. He
waters it with doubt, suspicion and hatred and he nourishes it with fake sunshine. He gives his anger-plant "smiles" and
"deceitful wiles". Outwardly, the persona smiles and is friendly to his foe so that he will trust him and be close to him. He is
scheming to trick and trap his foe. His increasing anger and hatred grows into a poison tree. The poison is actually the
persona's wrath and hatred for his foe.
Then the persona becomes spiteful, revengeful and murderous as his anger and hatred intensify. He plots to kill his foe
and his devious plan works when his poison tree bears a deadly poison apple. The persona's foe sees it and is tempted to
eat it. One dark night, he sneaks into the persona's garden and steals his poison apple. Then he eats it and dies. The next
morning, the persona is happy to see him lying dead under his poison tree.
Setting
Place - in his garden , under the poison tree
Time - in the darkness of the night , the next morning
Tone
Anger, bitterness and maliciousness- The persona is extremely angry with his foe. As his anger intensifies, he
becomes scheming and murderous. In Stanza 4, the tone is also accusing. The persona accuses his foe of stealing his
apple in his garden at night.
Themes and Moral Values
1. The importance of communicating when there is a misunderstanding- When there is a
misunderstanding, we should talk about it to resolve our differences.
2. Harbouring ill feelings against someone- We shouldn't harbour ill feelings against anyone.
3. Forgiving and forgetting- When there is a misunderstanding, we must forgive and forget.
4. Bottling up ill feelings- Bottling up ill feelings is bad for us and those around us.
Word vs Meaning
wrath ~ extreme anger
foe ~ enemy
watered ~ poured water on plants
sunned ~ provided sunshine
deceitful ~ dishonest behaviour to make people believe things which are not true
wiles ~ clever tricks a person uses to get what he wants
bore ~ produced fruit
beheld ~ looked at or saw
veiled ~ covered with something to hide something partly or completely
pole ~ the Pole star which is the star that is above the North Pole in the sky
