The Poison Tree by William Blake sent to me by Boy1

Boy I agree with you. Blake is often an insightful and powerful artist. Thanks for sending this out to me.

A Poison Tree

I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.

And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunnèd it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Til it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine,

And into my garden stole,
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning glad I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.


William Blake
From “Songs of Experience”

Some of my reflections conected to this poem:
* Anger is a result of knowing good and evil... by being responsible to make and keep the boundries of "fairness", "justice", etc.... The symbol of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is borrowed here. I wonder what life would have been like if like sex we ate of the tree of the knowledge of "Good and Evil" at a more age appropriate time. I don't think God created the "Tree" to tempt us. Yet Blakes tree is rather a diffferent kind of tree. It's fruit tempted one's enemy into becoming a victim. It is grown as our creation and not God's.

*Scripture (book chapter:verses) has a lot to say about anger: Matthew 5:21-26, Eph. 4:25-32, James 1:19-20 are just a few examples. We are to be real with our negative emotions and yet not necessarily be guided by them.