Summary Of 'A Poison Tree' By William Blake's A Poison Tree?

A man, hurt by his best friend, pretends everything is fine. Containing all of his anger for days upon days, causes him to go into a rage hurting others around him. In the moments of hurting others, he realizes he should have confronted and forgiven his friend long before any of this happened. People do things that anger other people. Whether the person who is angry decides to forgive or not, can make a difference in many lives. This idea can be seen in many pieces of text including the following poems. “A Poison Tree” by William Blake and “A Total Stranger One Black Day” by e.e. cummings both convey the message that forgiveness is very important because without it, friendships and lives can become toxic and filled with hatred.
Throughout “A Poison Tree,” William Blake conveys a theme …show more content…
cummings conveys that forgiveness is very important because without it, friendships and lives can become toxic and filled with hatred. The use of symbolism conveys the theme by showing the darkness or hatred filling this person's life. Cummings writes, “a total stranger one black day” (1). The effects of this line of poetry, and the symbol “black day” is being used to show the darkness and hatred that is filling up the life of the subject. Black is usually seen as a symbol of darkness and the bad in life conveying the hatred that this person has for himself. This quote and symbol connect to the theme by showing the darkness caused by angry feelings being pushed down lower and lower. Another literary device e.e. cummings uses is hyperbole to exaggerate the fact that the subject beats himself up over mistakes he has made. Cummings writes, “knocked the living hell out of me” (2). The use of this line in the poem shows the reader that the subject is mentally beating himself up, which is causing him to create a hatred towards himself. The hyperbole ultimately creates this atmosphere of self hatred by showing he will not forgive