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Conflict: inner conflict, anger and betrayal
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Conflict is not only war. These poems show anger, guilt, betrayal and clashes inside families.
A Poison Tree (Blake, 1794)
"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."
Hidden anger grows like a tree with a poisonous apple, and the foe dies: "In the morning glad I see / My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree."
The extended metaphor echoes the Garden of Eden.
Hidden anger grows like a tree with a poisonous apple, and the foe dies: "In the morning glad I see / My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree."
The extended metaphor echoes the Garden of Eden.
Extract from The Prelude: Boating (Wordsworth)
A boy takes a boat at night: "One summer evening (led by her) I found / A little boat tied to a willow tree".
A mountain looms up "As if with voluntary power instinct", and he flees, guilty and afraid.
For days afterwards, huge shapes of nature "were a trouble to my dreams". The conflict is between the boy and the power of nature, and inside his own conscience.
A mountain looms up "As if with voluntary power instinct", and he flees, guilty and afraid.
For days afterwards, huge shapes of nature "were a trouble to my dreams". The conflict is between the boy and the power of nature, and inside his own conscience.
Cousin Kate (Rossetti) and Catrin (Clarke)
Cousin Kate: "I was a cottage maiden / Hardened by sun and air". A lord seduces and abandons the speaker, then marries her cousin Kate. She ends proud of her son, calling him "My shame, my pride".
Catrin (Gillian Clarke, modern): a mother remembers the struggle of giving birth to her daughter and links it to their present conflict as the teenage daughter seeks independence.
Catrin (Gillian Clarke, modern): a mother remembers the struggle of giving birth to her daughter and links it to their present conflict as the teenage daughter seeks independence.
How does Blake show the danger of hidden anger?
- Shared anger ends; hidden anger grows.
- The anger becomes a tree bearing a poisoned apple.
- The foe dies, showing that unspoken anger can destroy.
Answer: Through the extended metaphor of a poison tree, showing that anger kept secret grows and destroys.
A Poison Tree: hidden anger grows and kills. Boating: guilt and the power of nature. Cousin Kate: betrayal and class. Catrin: conflict between mother and daughter.
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