Actually I saw the topic called "cherry tree" and it reminded me of this poem. And I like reading diff'rent interpretations of poems Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Hmmm. Ok, here's my attempt. The speaker got over his anger at his friend, but let the anger at his foe grow by continually feeding it with more angry feelings. The last stanza confuses me a bit. I need to think about it more. In one way it sounds like his foe finally did something to break the cycle of the speaker's anger, and the speaker is glad that it's over. But I'm not sure. Still thinking.
posted
But it also sounds like the foe took the fruit of the speaker's poison tree (tree of hate/anger) and the speaker is glad b/c he knows that the fruit is full of hate, which will eventually eat up his foe the same way in which it has eaten up him.
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I don't understand why the foe would be outstreched beneath the tree? did the foe eat the apple?
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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I believe he did. Sounds like he was jealous of the beautiful fruit that the speaker grew and coveted it. However, joke was on the foe since the fruit grew on a tree of hate.
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Concealing your hate from a foe is like the night concealing a poison tree. The foe is lured to the apple because that's all he can see.
What is it that allures the foe when you conceal your hate? What does that apple represent? Your foe encroaches on your territory or risks another offense, but what is it that does him in?
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I remember this poem particularly well. According to my high school literature teacher, the author cultivated the fruit and offered it to his enemy as a token of friendship. So "arms outstretched beneath the tree" was the enemy opening his arms in friendship.
I thought that was a stupid interpretation. It seemed more like that the fruit was poisoned and the foe died from eating it. So "arms outstretched" to me was him lying dead.
I discussed it with my friends, including my opinion of my teacher. One of them was in another class but with the same teacher. When the teacher brought the poem up in his class, he came out contradicted her and told her how "he and Edgar discussed it and what we thought the correct interpretation was".
The next time I rolled my eyes in Lit. class, the teacher called me out. She started ranting about how I think I'm so smart and why if I'm so smart, why don't I come up and share my thoughts with everybody.
That upset me alright. Later on I was able to see that her reaction was because she must've realized I was right and she was wrong and I got comfort from that thought. Posts: 176 | Registered: Aug 1999
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It sounds like the speaker knew that his foe would risk another offense, foresaw the nature of that offense, and set a trap.
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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quote: If it was offered as a token of friendship, why did the foe need to sneak in to take it?
She must've read the last lines first, formed a conclusion and then worked backwards, conveniently ignoring anything that doesn't fit.
How about "Invictus" by William Ernest Henly? How would you interpret this poem?
quote:
OUT of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.
Same literature teacher interpreted it as a man triumphantly reaffirming his faith in God. (I went to a religious school, btw). I could see how it could be that way. But personally, I thought it sounded more like a man throwing down his defiance.
I've always wondered about the first 2 lines in the last stanza. By "how strait the gate" does he mean the gate to heaven? And the scroll that he refers to, does he mean the Bible?
The speaker doesn't believe in the afterlife (just the shade of the grave), doesn't bow his head for anything, and he doesn't care about religion.
Posts: 2655 | Registered: Feb 2004
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posted
Mmmm. I liked that poem. I pictured the speaker as saying that he's in charge of his own life and choices. No matter how difficult or easy life is, or what circumstances he finds himself in, he knows he can take it because he's always found a way through before. Though life has beat him up a bit, he's not giving up.
quote: kaioshin, you're a University of Florida student, right? Is this for an assignment, or is it just for kicks?
Yes I'm a student...majoring in Computer Engineering... Im taking Programming 2, Biology 2, and Calculus 2 right now... I'm not trying to get any homework help...
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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Haha ... I'm not big into poetry - English is my worst subject. It's just that the topic about cherry trees reminded me of the poem A Poison Tree, which is a poem I like Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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That's OK CT. I just wanted to be sure that we were all aware of the reputation for honesty my alma mater has.
kaioshin, did you find Burrito Brothers yet? Yes, I know this takes away from the poetry, but this is an important part of your UF education. It's a shame CJ's isn't still around.
Posts: 4625 | Registered: Jul 2002
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For me the thing is that when you supress anger and nurture it by adding to it and nursing it, it bears a poisonous fruit. This fruit eventually kills. Usually the person killed is the gardener, but in this case the foe was fooled into eating the fruit. But now the gardener has a poison ridden corpse, and those are also problematic. He can bury it in his garden, but that will poison that patch of soil forever. If he leaves it to be eaten by the animals, he risks his own animals being poisoned. If he builds a monument around it, fencing it off, the rotting corpse leers at him from now on. Okay, okay, I took that way outside the actual text but I believe that is what Blake meant.
Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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Your literature teacher was wrong on BOTH counts. Wow. *shudder* I think people should rely on Hatrack for all their english instruction.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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