A Poison Tree uses metaphor, antithesis and biblical associations to highlight the self-damage that can proceed from suppressing anger. The emphasis is on letting go on negative emotions and moving on with life before this energy impacts on the health and wellbeing of others.
The worth of the speaker becomes a metaphorical tree bearing a poison apple. This allusion to the book of genesis chapter 3 is a clear one. The tree of knowledge of good and evil is the poem’s tree. The serpent is the speaker, both tempting and deceitful, Adam and Eve are the foe, both guilty of disobedience.
The poem carries with it a potent message, anger management which is the focal issue for many in society. Blakes’s prescient poem hits the nail on the head with its antithetical argument for letting go of negative energy.
