William Blake, A Poison Tree (1794)

About the lecture

In this module, we read through William Blake’s ‘A Poison Tree’, focusing in particular on the concepts of innocence and experience, the symbolism of the apple, and the lesson we should derive from the poem. Should we, like the speaker of the poem, be “glad” when we see our foes “outstretched beneath the tree”?

About the lecturer

John McRae is Special Professor of Language in Literature Studies and Teaching Associate in the School of English at Nottingham University, and holds Visiting Professorships in China, Malaysia, Spain and the USA. He is co-author of The Routledge History of Literature in English with Ron Carter, and also wrote The Language of Poetry, Literature with a Small 'l' and the first critical edition of Teleny by Oscar Wilde and others.