William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827 / London)

The bitter fruit of vengeance. This is yet another satire on human 'emotions' and every other thing we personify- an issue that only William Blake could wrap up in words and present.

I've read that he spent a lot of time using acid to etch his art into metal plates. He stuck to this method even though it was poisoning him and would ultimately lead to his death.

He put a lot of effort and thought into his illustrations. It's not hard to imagine him breathing in fumes and shedding tears. Watering his work.

The fruit of his labour shining brightly.

His friend being his art. His foe being his doubt.

William Blake in this poem conveys how when wronged by a friend, he confronted him and his friend apologized. But when wronged by an enemy, he realized that it had been done out of contempt. So Blake devised an ingenius plan, born both out of fear and revenge. The enemy had probably stolen an idea or worse, one of his literary works. So Blake created another so irresistable his enemy couldn't help but bite. But hidden within was a poisonous fruit, either something Blake knew his enemy was unable to comprehend or wouldn't take the time to research. Either way his trap worked. It led to his enemy's complete destruction. Brilliant!

I fail to see why people see forgiveness and forbearance in this poem.
To me he is saying forgive a friend and destroy an enemy.
Look at the last two lines.

Clear. True. Awesome.

The idea of the poem is not forget and forgive, it is the usual length for such a poem, and it certainly is not sweet.. The idea of the poem is that when you are angry with a foe talk to him about the problem, as you would to a friend. If you keep your anger, fear will make it grow, and, though you might be glad to see your foe dead, his death will deprive you of a possible friend. A summary might be jaw, jaw; not war, war (Churchill?)

This poem is short and sweet. I like it because of that. Regardless of any possible interpretations one might laboriusly dig to get, the idea is very simple; forget and forgive!

keep your friends close and your enemies closer...

i've done a lot of research, and i have discovered that William Blake hated Christianity. The original title of this poem was Christian Forbearance and it suggests that the narrator is god, the tree is his wrath, the apple religion, the foe Mankind (not just Adam and Eve and including Jesus because he is found outstretched- like the crucifix) . This poem is about how turning the other cheek is really just suppressing your anger and eventually it will just get worse. You need to outright tell people when you are angry with them and you need to legitimately forgive them whether or not they are your friend.

I really like this poem!
This explains reality in human life...