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Difficulty: MediumExtended Metaphors and Conceits

Read the following poem by William Blake (published in 1794) carefully before choosing your answer:

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 waterd it in fears,
Night & 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 veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretchd beneath the tree.

In the poem, how does the extended metaphor of the growing tree develop the speaker's thematic argument about repressed anger?

  1. A
    By establishing a constant, unchanging tone of regret that remains identical from the initial anger to the final discovery.
  2. B
    By illustrating the literal techniques of gardening that are necessary to cultivate rare fruit in a hostile environment.
  3. By depicting how unvoiced hostility secretly nourishes a destructive and fatal animosity.Answer
  4. D
    By detailing the biographical steps of Blake's own life as he struggled to overcome his personal enemies.
  5. E
    By showing that individual natural elements like tears and smiles are isolated symbols of the speaker's grief.

Answer

The correct choice is the one stating that the extended metaphor depicts how unvoiced hostility secretly nourishes a destructive and fatal animosity.
The correct option correctly identifies how the extended metaphor tracks the progression of unvoiced anger. By comparing silent wrath to a plant that is nurtured with fears and deceptive smiles, the poem shows how suppressed conflict grows into a deadly force that destroys the foe.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the opening stanza of the poem to identify the contrast between expressed and unexpressed anger.
The speaker's anger at the friend ends when spoken, but anger at the foe grows when kept secret.
This establishes the central subject of the poem: the cultivation of unvoiced wrath.
2
Trace the development of the horticultural metaphor in the second and third stanzas.
The speaker waters the anger with fears and tears, and suns it with smiles and wiles, leading to the growth of a poisonous tree and an apple.
This tracks the vehicle of the extended metaphor, showing how the speaker's internal psychological state actively nurtures the growing animosity.
3
Interpret the resolution of the metaphor in the final stanza.
The foe is found dead under the tree, representing the fatal climax of the speaker's nurtured wrath.
This synthesizes the conceit to show that silent hostility ultimately produces a destructive, lethal outcome.

Key Concept

Tracking and interpreting the comparative argument of an extended metaphor or conceit over the course of a poem.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Extended Metaphors and Conceits

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