Question

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 veild the pole;
in the morning glad i see;
my foe outstretched beneath the tree.

in the poem, william blake uses the poison that kills the speakers foe as a metaphor. what is the effect of this metaphor on the meaning of the poem?

○ it emphasizes the uselessness of crying over something.
○ it reflects the consequences of suppressed emotions.
○ it represents the fragility of friendships.
○ it symbolizes happiness.

Explanation:

This is from William Blake's A Poison Tree, where the "poison" is the speaker's unexpressed anger toward their foe. By nurturing this suppressed resentment instead of addressing it, the anger grows into a destructive force that ultimately destroys the foe. The metaphor highlights how repressed negative emotions lead to harmful, irreversible outcomes, matching this option. The other options do not align with the poem's core theme of unspoken anger's consequences.

Answer:

B. It reflects the consequences of suppressed emotions.