Worksheets"A Poison Tree" by William Blake
Total questions: 15
Worksheet time: 18mins
Which inference about the speaker of the poem is best supported by the text?
A. The speaker steals an apple from his foe’s garden.
B. The speaker is a gardener.
C. The speaker is consumed by anger and bitterness.
D. The speaker doesn’t have many friends.
Which of the following statements would the author of the poem most likely agree with?
A. Fear causes a person to be more uncertain about their beliefs.
B. Repressed anger can lead to terrible outcomes.
C. Kindness towards each other creates friendships.
D. Forgiveness isn’t always possible in some friendships.
Which inference is best supported by the poem?
A. Stealing from others has troubling consequences for a thief.
B. Enemies can build a lasting friendship by sharing possessions.
C. Resolution of conflict is possible when people express their feelings.
D. A garden must be tended with water, sun, and care so that fruit grows.
Arrange the following line from the poem into a rhyming couplet.
"And I water’d it in fears,"
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
Night & morning with my tears;
Till it bore an apple bright;
And he knew that it was mine,
Arrange the following line from the poem into a rhyming couplet.
"And it grew both day and night,"
Night & morning with my tears;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
Till it bore an apple bright;
When the night had veil’d the pole;
Arrange the following line from the poem into a rhyming couplet.
"And my foe beheld it shine,"
And he knew that it was mine,
When the night had veil’d the pole;
Night & morning with my tears;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
Arrange the following line from the poem into a rhyming couplet.
"And into my garden stole"
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
Till it bore an apple bright;
Night & morning with my tears;
When the night had veil’d the pole;
From stanza 1, who is the speaker angry with at first?
a friend
a foe
a tree
himself
In stanza 1, what does line 3 through 4 tell the reader?
The speaker has a difficult time speaking with people.
The speaker’s unwillingness to share their frustration with their enemy causes their anger to increase.
The speaker wishes he could share with his friend how irritated he is.
The speaker has an increasing amount of furry towards their friend and enemy.
HIDE ANSWER
The second stanza shows that the speaker
does not want to stay mad at his foe.
cannot help becoming angrier.
gets pleasure from hating his foe.
has a forgiving nature.
Why did the speaker’s anger grow?
He refused to name his enemy.
He didn’t tell his enemy why he was angry.
He realized that his friend had become his foe.
He refused to face his enemy.
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
These two lines convey to the reader
The speaker’s way of pretending to be friendly in order to bring their enemy closer.
How the sun makes the speaker smile.
The speaker’s explanation for his rage.
Why the speaker seeks revenge against his friends.
the symbol of anger
lemon tree
apple tree
orchid
secret garden
In the end of the poem, what happens to the speaker's foe?
The speaker and the foe become friends.
The speaker finds his foe dead on the ground.
The speaker continues to grow apple trees.
The speaker finds his foe taking a nap beneath the apple tree.
How does the conclusion of the poem impact the poem’s theme?
The foe did not know the apple was poison because of the speakers "deceitful wiles"
The foe, stole and ate the apple and died. So the bottled up anger did lead to violence.
The foe took a nap in the shade of the poison tree.
The foe was trespassing.
