Viktor Benjamin Kilgore
Professor Mr. Lambert
English 2341 MWF 2:00-2:50
Reading Response 4
Symbolism in “A Poison Tree”
In William Blake’s story of “A Poison Tree” the apple is a symbol of trust amongst the
two characters.
Within the story, the speaker poisons an apple in his tree which he knew is tempting in
appearance to be taken by his friend, by which he considers a foe. When referring to his friend as
a foe, the actual image he sees is of both, more of a worthy adversary then an actual enemy. You
notice that the speaker has doubts about the friendship when he constantly implies to the
audience that the secondary character as a foe instead of a friend, in fact it was only the first line
that he considered him a friend. The soliloquy of the speaker states “And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears, And I sunnéd it with smiles, And with soft deceitful wiles.”
With this utterance to himself it reveals to the reader that even though it hurts him to do this to
his friend, to him it is the only way to show trustworthiness in a friend. With the scene of the
rising action, “And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine.” With this line it
conveys clearly to the audience that the foe is indeed that of just an enemy and nothing more. In
whole, the speaker poisoned the apple as a test of friendship, so if betrayed then he just rid
himself of an enemy and if respected then now has a true friend.
In addition, friends should be consider trusting or they’ll just end up enemies in the end.