Interpretation of "A Poison Tree"

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 waterd it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.

And it grew both day and night,
Till 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 outstretchd beneath the tree.

        One of William Blake’s short poems; “The Poison Tree,” contains a moral lesson and wise teaching of anger. In the first stanza, Blake introduces a narrator who is angry at his friend, and by telling him about his feelings, the problem disappears. When the narrator is angry with his foe, he can't admit his anger, therefore his wrath grew. Wrath would be defined as a strong, stern, or fierce resentful indignation. I think it’s easier to tell a friend when they have wronged you than telling your foe, but the poem does not mention who injured whom. Based on the title of the poem, Blake is referring to the poison tree in the second, third, and fourth stanzas. The poison tree was watered with tears, day and night. Since water makes plants grow, Blake was implying that the poison tree kept on growing bigger and stronger from the tears. While the tears symbolize time and hatred, the poison tree symbolizes the anger. Giving sunshine to the tree with smiles also helped the tree grow; meaning that hiding his anger with a false smile built more anger and envy toward his enemy. At the end of the second stanza, “soft deceitful wiles” imply misleading or fraudulent tricks. The tricks can be interpreted as the protagonist pretending they are not angry with their foe, but have to smile politely and interact with them in public while they still harbor a grudge.  The anger continues to grow even more until it explodes when the foe discovers the secret feelings toward him. The knowledge of the enemy is symbolized in the poison apple. Once the enemy has seen the shine of the apple, he steals it and by the morning, the knowledge killed him. The narrator’s anger, innocent on the outside, concealing the evil on the inside, is similar to the poison apple, pretty on the outside, but deadly on the inside. Therefore, when the foe made one wrong move by taking the "apple," the anger was released killing him.  I appreciate the lesson William Blake portrays about the effects of withholding anger.  Anger should be dealt with before it’s too late.