Blog Post #2: A Poison Tree

500 word post.

I read a poem today in theatre that caught my attention. It was called A Poison Tree by William Blake. This poem was about revenge, and the way he portrayed it really caught my attention. The poem went like this

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

I water'd it in fears

Night and morning with my tears

and sunned it with smiles

and with soft deceitful wiles

And it grew both day and night

'Till it bore and 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 mourning, glad, I see

My foe outstretched beneath the tree

I was intrigued because of the first stanza. He said that he was mad at his friend and he told his friend what happened and it was all good. But when he didn't tell his foe that he was angry with him, I mean who wants to tell their foe that they made you mad? It just gives them the satisfaction. but by not telling him he let it fester and grow inside of him. I think that revenge can be very dangerous. It usually hurts you more than the person you're trying to get revenge against.

I have some of experience with revenge, living with 2 sisters and all. We insult, hurt and are all out monsters to each other all the time. When one sister does one thing to another she usually feels that it is her responsibility to get her back in the worst way possible. This is all fine when done in the light of laugher, but under the clouds of contention it can get very ugly, very fast. My sister has kicked a hole in my wall to get me back for something I can't even remember! Revenge can be dangerous, and it makes for a not happy house. And it doesn't cause problems just at my house, at school girls will go without talking to each other for weeks to get back at the other. I hate being trapped in the middle of these fights, especially when we could be having so much fun otherwise!

It surprised me though how William Blake did not seem at all concerned by his killing of his foe. I know that it is only metaphorically, but it seems that you should at least have a little remorse for what you have done. I don't know, it might just be me, but I know that I usually feel foolish after I lash out at someone. I usually don't realize how petty it was until it's too late. I guess that if the insult was steep enough that you could get revenge and have no remorse and feel accomplished. there are a lot of stories about getting revenge, but most of the time they realize that the problem is within themselves not the perpetrator.

Revenge is a tricky business that I try my hardest to stay out of. Don't get me wrong, I still want and have gotten plenty of it, but life seems to have less drama the less I let things bother me. If you don't let things bother you, you will be happier and you will make the people around you happier too. I'm kind of up on my soap box now, but I think we could solve a lot of problems by being more understanding of others mistakes and our mistakes. It's a hard thing to not try to get revenge but it will count for something in the long run.