Read the following poem. What connections can be made between "A Poison Tree" and A Separate Peace. Make sure to use textual evidence to support your ideas.
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 watered 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 outstretched beneath the tree.
--William Blake
27 comments:
This poem is parallel to Finny falling out of the tree. In some form Finny was considered a foe and enemy of Gene. Finny didn't know it, but subconciously Gene did. Together Gene and Finny climbed up the tree. Out of nowhere Gene "jounced the limb" to where Finny's "balance [was] gone" and he ultimately "broke through ... branches below and hit the back with a sickening, unnatural thud" (Knowles 60). Gene knows deep down he did it on purpose, on the other hand he doesn't know it. The last stanza of the poem would be parallel to Finny being on the ground after falling out of the tree.
My question is: What do you think is a possibility for both the foe in the poem, and Finny, being knocked out of a tree?
I do not know if I am answering the question above but this is what I think. As the poem is a parallel to the point where Gene's "knees bent and...[he] jounced the limb of the tree,"(Knowles 57)and knocks Finny out of the tree, and also the last line of the poem says "My foe outstretched beneath the tree." So in both the novel and this poem, we have the tree as the spot and so there is a posibility that both the 'foe' in the poem and Finny in the novel are being knocked out of the tree.
Mu question: What connections can be made between "friend" and "foe", and the " wrath did end" and the "wrath did grow" in the first stanza?
The poem i think simulates the "war" between Finny and Gene. Gene never released his wrath in words or psychologically, so the only way he could was to physically push Phineas off of the tree by the Devon river( 1st stanza). Later on he realizes what he has done and sort of regrets it.Though he never shows it outwardly (2nd stanza). Every day the feeling kept eating at him until he confessed to Phineas his committed sin (stanza 3). Phineas outstretched beneath the tree is the outcome of Gene's actions, this leads to Finny's death later on. Gene had killed his foe, if he ever was a foe (stanza 4.
my question: what other scenes could relate to this poem?
answer "What do you think is a possibility for both the foe in the poem, and Finny, being knocked out of a tree?"
The relation i can see is both were a target of wrath and anger.The friend is the foe in both situations.
When it speaks about being beneath the tree, it is like when Finny falls from the tree and is now beneath it. When it is talking about the anger growing inside the author and how he just holds it in because he is too afraid to confront his feelings so he finally builds it all up and explosed in an act of violence. When it says he "sunned it with smiles" means that he covered up how he truely felt to fool everyone else into thinking there was nothing wrong, when truely Gene was so jealous of Finny and couldn't handle the loss of power and identity. It just starts as a simple anger and soon turns into something bigger than he can control, when finally he cannot control his actions.
To answer Amber's question, I think that it is a strange coinsidence because the tree must symbolize somewthing greater for it to be common in both stories.
My question is, What could the tree symbolize, because it is obviously more than just a tree.
This poem is similar to A Separate Peace because both pieces of literature tell of an inner struggle and the need to discern friend from foe. In the poem A Poison Tree, the speaker possesses anger, but deals with it in different ways depending on who it is directed towards, be they friend or foe. In A Separate Peace, Gene cannot discern whether or not Finny is his friend or his foe. Shortly before he goes with Finny to the tree on that fateful day, Gene tells Finny he has to study, so Finny tells him to stay back and study if he needs to. This is so unlike the what Gene expected Finny to do that he can no longer truly understand how Finny operates, and flat out asks him "'Who are you, then?'...[he] was facing a total stranger" (Knowels 58). Gene cannot discern between friend and foe, causing him to release his "wrath" against Finny even though Finny views Gene as a friend.
In answer to Hailey's question, i think that the tree, being tall and easily visible, symbolizes the climax of the plot in the both stories. In A Separate Peace, the tree is where Gene betrays Finny, and in the poem A Poison Tree it's where the speaker kills his foe.
My question: Does the speaker of the poem A Poison Tree actually kill his foe, or did the enemy bring those consequences upon himself?
In a separate piece gene is angry at finny because nothing he does discourages finny or allows him to stumble. He accepts when hes wrong and gene doesnt like that. The rath is represented as finny because gene told finny the truth about his "blind impulse he had in the tree"(knowles 191)and how it was just to hurt finny . When he did tell finny the wrath died along with him. The last lines of the poem is an indication of finny being burried and with it the fear, jealousy, and hatred he had held on to for so long.
To answer Aarons question the speak killed his foe. It is ncessary to the foe to die in order for him to break the hold the enemy has on him. You cant say someone brought some elses jealousy on themselve becasue they dont like how they're approach to life is. he didnt deliberatley try to anger the friend.
My question is how is the second section of the poem identical to finny and genes relationship?
The title of this poem, “A Poisonous Tree”, is connected to the “weary… tree” which Gene pushes Phineas from (Knowles 14), which brings out his innate sense of uproar. Just as the narrator was angry with his friend, Gene is also angry with Finny because he thinks he is trying to come in between him and his studies, and is putting on “a performance” and acting innocent (Knowles 57). Just as the friend in the poem dies at the realization of the narrator’s wrath, Finny dies running from the truth that Gene caused his accident.
Answer to Hailey T.: I think the tree symbolizes the innate characteristics in the boys; it’s where Gene went rogue, and where the reader realizes Finny is a true friend and not putting on a performance.
My question: How do you think this insert relates and is incorporated into events from A Separate Peace?:
“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”
The poem is very similar to A Separate Peace because it talks about having a best friend as a rival. When Finny breaks the school swimming time record, “his accomplishment took root in [Gene’s] mind and grew rapidly in the darkness where [he] was forced to hide it” (Knowles 44). This pairs along with “my wrath did grow” (Blake line 4), because every thing that Finny achieved at, made Gene resent him more. “And into my garden stole” could relate to the only thing that Gene was truly better at, which was school. Finny stole Gene’s “garden” by holding “the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session” (Knowles 51) meetings which distracted Gene from his studing. Where it says “And my foe beheld it shine, And he knew that it was mine” relates to Gene’s prediction of “while [Finny] was a very poor student [Gene]was a pretty good athlete, and when everything [is] thrown into the scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward [Gene]” (Knowles 55).
To answer Aaron’s question, I believe that the speaker of A Poison Tree did in fact, kill his foe because of his envy and “wrath.” A person cannot help the fact that they may be more talented or athletic than another person is. The “foe “had no control over the way he was, it was innate. However, the speaker did have control over his actions and feelings but they grew too strong for him resulting in the death of his “foe.”
My Answer is: Do you think this poem could be parallel with Lord of the Flies? Why or Why not?
In "A Poison Tree", the narrator harbours deep hatred for his friend, much like Gene did. The narrator of the poem, lets his hatred grow, and consume him until he kills his friend by a tree. Gene also harms Finny by a tree, but he didn't intend for it to result in his death. The narrator is more open about his intentions. He accepts that there is evil in his heart, and he's okay with that. Gene doesn't realize, or won't acknowledge his evilness.
Question:
What is the significance of William Blake using nature to characterize the hatred the narrator feels?
Answer to Janey D.:
I think that section of the poem describes exactly what Gene was feeling throughout the novel. He let his hatred grow until he couldn't hold it in anymore and Finny bore the consequences.
Many connections can be made between "A Poison Tree" and A Separate Peace. This poem talks about the relationship between the narrator and his friend and the innermost feelings he has for him. In the first stanza of "A Poison Tree", one can immmediately see a correlation between the poem and the novel. The first sentence describes the result of what could have happened if the friend told his problem directly to his other friend. The "wrath [would] end" if he just opened up his problems and no harsh feelings would have been created. However, in the fourth line, the reader sees the oppposite- that if he did not open up his feelings of resentment, they would grow. This can be paralleled to what goes on in A Separate Peace. This same anger can be compared to the anger Gene starts to show for Phinny in the beginning of the book as he wondered why "Finny talke[d] [him] into stupid things" and was gaining "some kind of hold over [him]" (Knowles 9). Despite the fact that Phinny did have control over Gene, Gene conformed to his ways, never contradicting Phineas' actions or confronting him and talking to him about this control. The same control can also be seen with the Super Society of the Summer Session. Gene was never "inured to the jumping" and he also "hated it" (Knowles 25). However, he conformed to Gene's wants and plans because "otherwise [he] would have lost face with Phineas, [as] that would have been unthinkable" (Knowles 26). Gene "went along, never missing a meeting" (Knowles 26); he was almost inspired by Phinny's greatness that he was scared to stand up to him, which led to the building of hate within himself. This same idea can be tranferred to stanza two. Just like in the poem, Gene "[sunns]" this anger "with smiles and with soft deceitful wiles" (Blake 2). As mentioned above, Gene never broke away from Phinny's attraction, and he did not stand up and say "This is what I feel." As a result, his hatred "grew both day and night" (Blake 3). The second line of the third stanza also relates to Gene in that an "apple bright" is something that can clearly be seen. Everyone could see Gene's true colors once he pushed Phinny out from the tree.
In response to Christy J., the significance of Blake using nature to characterize the hatred the narrator feels is used because just as a problem will grow, so will a tree also grow. There are also certain instances in the poem which also make sense to use with a tree like when the author writes "and I watered it in fears" and "it bore an apple bright" (Blake 2). Also, a tree grows bigger and bigger until it reaches a certain point, in which it has reached the highest. This also relates to Gene's problem. His situation grows bigger and bigger as he waters it with more hate and anger until it reached a certain point. This point is when Phinny falls from the tree.
My question: How can the tree in A Separate Peace and the tree mentioned in the poem be related?
The book A Separate Peace and the poem A Poison Tree is very similar. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker tells of his anger toward a friend and a foe and how each differed. With his friend he expressed his anger and was relieved of it. In a Separate Peace Gene was also mad and/or jealous of Finny. In the poem it talks about "my foe outstretched beneath the tree", meaning in their lives they have dealt with a tree just as Finny and Gene did in A Separate Peace.” I began to examine each one closely, and finally identified the tree I was looking for by means if certain small scars rising along its trunk" {Knowles 14}. A Separate Peace and A Poison Tree has the same meaning but in a different way of expressing it.
To answer to Alfred's question is: The tree in A Separate Peace and the tree mentioned in the poem can be related by how everything got started. In the poem it talks about the tree at the end restating that something might have happened just as A Separate Peace "..outstreched beneath the tree."
My question is:
Does the title "A Poison Tree" have any significance to A Separate Peace? Explain.
This similar to genes hatred to finny. when he "realized" that finny purposely did it so he cant get good grades, he "jounced the limb" and pushes finny off the tree.(knowles 60). Deep inside he was happy that he had pushed finny off the tree.
Answer to hailey.
The tree symbolizes the weapon or the battleground where the anger comes out.
My Question
How does anger grow in a seperate peace? use textual evidence.
The connection between A Separate Peace and "A Poison Tree" is very concrete. As the poem states "I told my wrath, my wrath did end," this exhibits the time Gene told finny about the hatred he had towards him and the "wrath" or angered feelings went away. Also towards the beginning when Gene did not tell finny about his "wrath" towards him, finny just continued to go along with his ways of making Gene more angry. Through these feelings, they were able to present the line "I told it not, my wrath did not grow." During the time Gene had kept his feelings to himself, finny thought nothing was wrong making him think that he could carry on. As Gene describes his anger, all he can say was "yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me" (knowles 24). While Gene sat quietly letting him take advantage, this action would describe the line which states "my foe outstretched beneath the tree."
To answer Alfred's question, the tree in A Separate Peace and the tree mentioned in the poem can relate because that tree in the novel represented the downfall of their friendship and in the poem they described the same thing by adding the positive and the negative side.
My question is: By author characterizing a tree, do you think this tree can possibly symbolize friendship by maybe its life cycle? Explain.
*"I told it not, my wrath did grow"
The poem connects to A SEPARATE PEACE by when it says "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." This quote is like how Gene was jealous of Finny, so if he tried to stop his feelings of jealousy his wrath would end, but if he didn't do anything about it his jealousy would keep growing. When the poem says "[a]nd I watered it in fears [n]ight and morning with my tears." It relates to Gene because after he knew that Finny wasn't trying to distract him with his studies he feels scared and guilty because he pushed Finny off a tree. When the poem talks about smiles and deceitful wiles it means that Gene tries to show that he did nothing wrong by hiding it.
In response to Christy J.
The reason William Blake uses nature to characterize the hatred the narrator feels is because just like nature we can not control how we feel or it is hard for us to change our minds about something. Our emotions come natural to us and are essential to life.
My question:
Do you think that William Blake tried to connect the poem with A SEPARATE PEACE or was it just a coincidence?
There are multiple specified connections which link William Blake's "A Poison Tree" with Knowles's "A Separate Peace".
In "A Poison Tree", the text states that the narrator was "angry with [his] friend" and when he told his wrath, "[his] wrath did end" (Blake). When Gene struggled to oppress his envy towards Fenny, he told himself that Finny was his best friend and that no hate existed between them. However, when he believed Finny to be his foe, "[his] wrath did grow" (Blake). Gene narrates that "deadly rivalry" existed on "both sides", (Knowles 54), between Finny and himself and it is that envy and hate which spurted from this rivalry that led to the Gene "jounc[ing] the limb" (Knowles 60).
After Gene's realization of the rivalry between Finny and himself, he "sunn[s] [the rivalry] with smiles" and "deceitful wiles" (Blake). Gene narrates how he often found himself "thoughtlessly slipping back into afftection for [Finny]" (Knowles 35). Gene's envy was raging within him and he hid this from Finny by focusing his energy towards his studies and convincing Finny that no conflicts existed between the two of them.
Lastly, Gene releases his envy on Finny by gladly seeing his "foe", Finny, "outstretched beneath the tree" (Blake). Blake's text of the foe lying beneath the tree parallels what Ginny saw when Finny "hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud" (Knowles 60).
In response to Beejal's question:
The tree can symbolize friendship in the perspective that friendship grows, reaches it peak strength, then begins to fade and eventually die.
Question:
After Gene pushed Finny from the tree, do you believe he continued to view Finny as a friend or a foe now that his 'enemy' was taken care of? Explain why.
The first stanza parallels to "A Separate Peace" because Gene was angry with Phineas for being so eager “to be the first to try” anything without any fear also, “naturally he was going to inveigle others, us [the boys] into trying it with him. (Knowles 15) Gene wanted to be like Phineas because he created a “unregulated friendliness between them [Mr.Prud’homme and Phineas]" (Knowles 23)
In Response to Christopher R.G : The other scenes that could relate to "A Separate Peace" is when in the third stanza it talks about stealing. Gene felt the jealousy because he wanted everything Phineas had.
My Question:Analyze how the second stanza relate to "A Seperate Peace". Explain with text.
This poem is very similar to Gene's perception of Finny being an enemy. Similar to the Poem Gene has a built up a wrath upon which he has acted on "I was injuring him again... this could be... even deeper... than what I had done before" (Knowles 62). Gene's account is almost identicall to that of the poem's however, Finny never knows or suspects Gene of fowlplay. In the Poem it states that his foe knew that he was angered which could have possibly resulted in a duel. Ultimately both narrators in these two accounts have a deep anger towards someone which causes them to "resolve" their conflicts in a violent manner.
In response to Nessa:
The second stanza relates to ASP because it tells of how he lived with his agonizing anger. This is similar to Gene who must bear his resentment towards Finny. For example, Gene can't get over Finny's "accomplishment" which "took root in [his] mind and grew rapidly" showing that Finny's achievement was paining Gene on the inside no matter how hard he tried to cope with it.
My Question:
After having made connections with the poem and ASP now contrast the poem with ASP provide textual evidence.
The poem is similar to how Gene was jealousy of finny. He let his Jealousy build inside of him without telling finny. Until it finally came out when he pushed finny out of the tree. "He had never been jealous of me for a second. Now I knew that there never was and never could have been any rivalry between us. I was not of the same quality as he." (Knowles 51) I think when Hailey asked what the tree meant it represented how gene felt finny was after the accident as he was under the tree he was powerless.
"A Poison Tree" is a direct characterization of Gene and Finny's relationship in the book. Gene becomes "angry with [his] foe", Finny, when he begins to think that "Finny had deliberately set out to wreck [his] studies" (Knowles 45). Gene continues to “water [the rivalry] in fears” (Blake), until one day he realizes Finny just thought he was naturally good at school. Gene “couldn’t stand” Finny’s lack of competition because “he wasn’t of the same quality as [Finny]” (Knowles 51). Therefore, he bears “an apple bright” (Blake) by “jounce[ing] the limb” and injuring Finny (Knowles 52). Finny knew “the apple was [Gene’s]” (Blake); however, he doesn’t want to face the truth. When he runs away from the boys the night they investigate, he reinjures himself. “In the morning”, Gene’s foe is dead, directly correlating to the last line- “My foe outstretched beneath the tree” (Blake).
In response to Hailey T.’s question: In relation to A Separate Peace, the tree symbolizes Gene’s growing animosity. Gene does all the things necessary to make the tree flourish. He even gets to the point where the tree is bearing fruit, or in a literal sense, attacking Finny physically. Gene’s guilt and inability to move on after Finny’s death is also shown by how the tree lives on much longer than humans normally do.
My question: Do you think Gene is truly glad to see Finny dead? Support your answer with textual evidence.
This poem is stongly connected to the novel "A Separate Peace". The poems relates to when Gene's "knees bent and..[he] jounced the limb of the tree"(Knowles 57), causing Finny to fall from the tree. The tree is percived as "poison" because it cause Gene to begin a life filled with inner guilt that hinders him from happiness. The last stanza of the poem relates to Finny on the ground and displays the sin that Gene commits towards his friend.
To answer Hailey Thibodeaux, the tree represents the sin or "posion" that Gene lives with as he grows in his life, knowing of the action he has done.
My question is how does the author demonstrate a piece of literature that has several connections to the novel "A Separate Peace" with simple diction?
The poem "A Poison Tree" relates to the story A Separate Peace in many ways as described. The first sentence itself shows one main conflict within the novel. Gene was always angry and not only that but also jealous of Phineas causing his wrath to grow as it says in the fourth sentence. The second stanza describes how Gene always hid that anger and jealousy by showing those fake smiles and being nice to Phineas when inside his heart he wanted to kill Phineas. The third stanza describes how the wrath grew slowly every day until it sprouted into a fruit. Lastly, the fourth stanza talks about how the foe or in this case Phineas stole the fruit and then was on the ground beside the tree. This relates to the story about how Gene intentionally pushed Phineas and how he landed resembled that of a man lying on the ground except for the fact that he was in water.
In Response to Hailey T:
I think that the tree resembled the place where all the anger and jealousy was released into one final assault towards the foe or in this case Phineas.
My Question:
What do you think would have happened if Gene had told Phineas about his wrath? Explain your reasoning.
The similarity between the poem "A poison tree" and the novel "A separate peace" is seen in Gene's enemity towards Phineas.In the poem it says "I was angry with my foe; I told it not, my wrath did grow"(Blake).this line is similar to the novel, because Gene did not say anything to Phineas about his enemity, instead he "sunned it with smiles"(Blake).And the result of the enemity was that Phineas laid down"outstretched beneath the tree"(Blake).Gene purposley "jounced the limb", which caused Phineas to loose his balance and "[tumble] sideways..through the little branches below and hit the bank with a sickening, unnatural thud"(knowles,60).this incident explains how the wrath in gene grew,since he did not tell Phineas. As the first line of the poem states "I told my wrath, my wrath did end", would have been true in " a separate peace" if gene talked to Phineas about his envious feelings(Blake).
Answer to Alfred A.'s question: the tree in the poem and the one in the novel can be realted because in both the peices we can see that the tree is where the enemity between the rivals is seen clearly. the poem says that the " foe outstretched beneath the tree" and in the novel Gene purposely made Phineas fall down from the tree(Blake).
my question: how does the enemity that grows in Gene's mind relate to the tree?
The poem has a distinct resemblence to Gene and his feelings towards Finny. In the poem "[the author] was angry with [his] foe; [he] told it not, [his] wrath did grow" (Blake) Because he did not speak about the feelings, they grew and grew, finally reaching a climax. Whereas in A Seperate Peace, Gene let his feelings of wrath fester and grow until they made him physcially hurt his friend Finny.
To answer Kenneth G.
Has Gene told Finny about his feelings, Finny would have probably been able to sort the whole thing out. Throughout the story, Finny is shwon to have a way with staying positive and sorting things out. The same would apply to any conflict with Gene.
What does the apple represent in the poem and how does it relate to Gene's feelings?
There are many connections between the poem "A Poison Tree" & "A Seperate Peace". For instance, in the quotation in the first paragraph,
"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."(Blake)
Its very much similiar to how Gene feels toward Finny. Gene was always angry & jealous towards Finny and let that take over him.
Gene was never open about his feelings and pretended like he felt love toward Finny.
"And I watered it in fears
Night and morning with my tears,
And I sunned it with smiles
And with soft deceitful wiles." (Blake)
This quotation shows how Gene felt with the fears & tears is how he really felt and just covered it up with smiles & soft deceitful wiles.
"And into my garden stole
When the night had veiled the pole;
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree." (Blake)
This is also parallel to Gene and Finny because Gene realizes Finny, his foe, just fell out of the tree. He feels accomplished & content inside about it but ignores the feeling.
In response to Kiran Q.'s question:
I do believe that Gene continued to view Finny as a foe even though he believed his "enemy" was "taken care of" because he still referred to Finny as a foe & showed jealousy & hatred towards Finny.
Question:
What does the garden represent in the fourth stanza of the poem "A Poison Tree"?
This poem shows similarities with "A Separate Peace" in that Finny was, essentially, Gene's foe. Gene, though unknowingly, expressed wrath towards Phineas. "A Poison Tree" exemplifies the nature of wrath to grow inside oneself like a poison that will grow until taken notice of. Gene wasn't aware of his wrath towards Phineas, so he had no reason to express it consciously. So instead, this poisonous wrath against Finny grew and thrived until it ultimately caused Phineas' death in the end.
To answer Hailey's question: Though significantly important to the novel, the tree doesn't necessarily symbolize anything that can be pinpointed. but it does represent insignificant aspects that are involved in acts of wrath. This violence towards Phineas was inevitable, and the main thing by which it occurred just so happened to be the tree.
My question is:
Why would Gene think Finny is his "foe"?
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