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

gregory collins that is the oddest relpy to a poem i have ever read love the poem by the way

jellyspoon in Dianas forests, help us all, luckily manhood has been forgotten on this planet, and you are no shot herring, maybe grief has blown you up like a balloon, maybe you have forgotten what the inside of a church looks like, eh jellyspoon, perhaps as critic and professional appreciator you have started to grow wings and become a fairy, as valued as a weeny extroadinaire, but hey, whereever, whenever, justt ry to be a well adjusted person, and have a nice day teaching the handicaped to yodel, ...you are as valued as Hercules, eh jellyspoon

Release! I say...'release! ' Reality demands more than the prosaic notions of religiose minions. There comes a juncture for all to 'do or die'...dignity must exert a portion of pain to survive: 'Pray thy destiny be kind! Prey on vagaries of the blind! '

I like the way this poem has been written. Its beauty lies in its simplicity of style and sparing use of words to understand the darker side of human nature.

combination of both the earthly side of man and his spiritual identity, are both well presented in this creation by Blake. It may be a poem of hate and human incapicity to fogive, but its beauty is found when one goes deeper than just inspecting semantic meaning of the words used, but by interpreting the poem as a breathing testament of humanity and its somewhat darker side.

Kevin Harrison... you are an idiot. If you can say that William Blake's poems do not relate and are meaningless to modern day life you really should open your eyes and look around at society. William Blake's a poison tree relates to all who are not complete monks and so forth. Brilliant poem.

I do not like William Blakes' poems because they are senseless and meaningless to modern day life, i see that poems which give the nature of war show us our true path. I believe that Blake's poems are selfish, tasteless, pathetic and un-interesting! This poem is totally crap!

If we could all learn to be respectful and live in peace with our neighbors there'd be a whole lot less people outstreatched beneath apple trees. An interesting statement on the nature of society.

How simply he says what we all know, but cannot bring to pass because of our ego, our lack of forgiveness, and our inability to see what makes our life peaceful. It makes me think of Adam and Eve and the apple on the tree, and that metaphor is very strongly etched in my mind, as a practical application of a Bible truth. As an aside, I do believe that people who do not read, seek out, or enjoy poetry are diminished...it feeds the soul and spirit.

William Blake is actually my first love (poets) ! I remember this poem from high school, this being the first to capture my interest. 'Poison Tree', to me, holds a very strong message for us all as it shows us the seemingly innocent yet seductively black side of malice and hate once fed and nourished in our hearts. Thanks to dear William, this poem has made me resist many a 'tempation' toward malice, reaping a more fruitful result of peace: -)