And it grew both day and night,

Till it bore an apple bright,

How do these lines refine the theme of the

poem?

They show that the speaker does

not realize the anger is flourishing.

They show that the speaker is

attentive to the anger.

They show that repressing anger

has positive consequences.

They show that repressing anger

causes it to develop and change.

Read the poem.

A Poison Tree

by William Blake

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 water'd 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 veil'd the pole;

In the morning glad I see

My foe outstretch'd beneath the tree.

Read these lines from the poem.

And I sunned it with smiles,

And with soft deceitful wiles.

How do these lines refine the theme of the poem?

A) They imply that the speaker is inherently dishonest.

B) They imply that holding onto anger causes the speaker to lie.

C) They imply that holding onto anger brings the speaker happiness.

D) They imply that the speaker has let go of the anger.

Answer:

These lines refine the theme of the poem because B) They imply that holding onto anger causes the speaker to lie.

Explanation:

The poem written by William Blake has two different scenarios, with the first scenario being the speaker's anger towards his friend and his decision to communicate his feelings to his friend and the second being the speaker building up his anger and resentment towards another but this time he does not communicate his feelings and he is forced to lie and disguise his true feelings with fake smiles until soon enough his resentment and anger turns into "a poisonous apple" which was eaten by the person he was feeling the resentment to and he dies.