William Blake - A Poison Tree

I love this poem! It speaks to me of the power of both forgiveness and unforgiveness. Sometimes forgiving someone who wronged us seems like we are "letting the person off the hook". What we don't realize is that holding on to the pain they caused us, gives that person a certain amount of control over us. For instance, have you ever been having a good day, just enjoying all that life has to offer and you happen to run into the person that wronged you? You immediately begin to remember what they did, said or didn't do or say. You may suddenly feel down or upset. Our poem say "I was angry with my friend: I told my wrath, my wrath did end". (92) It may be easier to talk through a problem with a close friend, spouse or family member because deep down we don't want to be upset with them. But what about a co-worker, church member or mild acquaintance? We often dismiss their offense in our minds but not our hearts. Unforgiveness is like a poison that seeps into your veins. It can slowly take hold of your feelings for someone and turn it to bitterness or hatred. Where you initially were just upset with someone, if you choose not to talk it out, the bitterness and anger settles itself into the state of unforgiveness. When Blake says "I watered it in fears, Night & morning with my tears:" (92), I think he's saying sometimes we fear confronting the person that wronged us, maybe because of retaliation at work or being ostracized at church for instance. And because of this we may try to cry our pain away instead of dealing with it. When we see the person we may smile and use "deceitful wiles" to try to pretend like we're o.k. But in reality, the unforgiveness grows "both day and night. Till it bore an apple bright". It seems the offender saw this metaphoric apple looking so appealing that, they plotted to steal it from the garden, not knowing the poison that lied within. To the offended's glee, she found her "foe outstretched beneath the tree".