A Poison Tree

“A Poison Tree” consists of four stanzas of four lines each. This neat, simplistic construction is further broken down into two couplets in each stanza. These couplets all end with masculine rhyme meaning that the lines rhyme with either a similar single syllable or final stress. In the case of Blake’s poem, each line ends with a monosyllabic word connecting the couplets together, making the rhyme scheme AABB. Each line in the poem features a tetrameter structure—four beats, or four metrical units, per line. The metrical units of each line vacillate between trochaic tetrameter and iambic tetrameter. With trochees, the syllables shift between an initial stressed syllable and a subsequent unstressed syllable: “I was ang-ry with my foe” (Line 1). In iambic meter, the syllables alternate between an unstressed syllable and a stressed syllable: “I told my wrath, my wrath did end” (Line 2).

All these various formulaic and metrical elements work together to enhance and convey the ultimate meaning of the poem. The simplistic stanzaic structure and predictable rhyme scheme have somewhat of a “nursery rhyme” feel to them, lulling readers into a false sense of security with its rhythmic, singsong tone, much as the speaker’s innocent facade tricks their foe into complacency. The metrical units of the poem alternate between the harsher and more sinister sounding trochaic beats, mimicking the violence of the speaker, and the familiar, non-threatening cadence of the iambs. Just as the poem’s message hints, the form and meter help to hide the more ominous effects of the text’s mechanical compositions.