Eng 4102+4110

A Poison Tree (William Blake)
Lines 1-2
I was angry with my friend:
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
As the poem opens, the speaker describes how he was angry with his friend. Bad
times. Still, he told his friend he was angry (“I told my wrath”), and presumably why he was
angry, and his anger disappeared. Happy days are here again! We notice that these lines are
linked with end rhyme and a pretty consistent rhythm. We wonder if this form will continue.
Lines 3-4
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
The speaker describes a different scenario, now. He was once angry with his foe, but
didn’t tell him about it. Since the speaker did not talk about his anger (“I told it not”), his
anger got bigger and bigger (“my wrath did grow”). You know how, when you keep
something bottled up inside, it tends to make that feeling more intense and overwhelming.
We’re guessing that this is what’s going on for the speaker here.
Lines 5-8
And I watered it in fears,
Night and morning with my tears;
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
The speaker talks more about how his anger grows. Using figurative language, he
treats this anger very much like a plant. A plant needs water and sun in order to grow, and so
apparently does his anger. He watered it with his ‘fears’ and his ‘tears’ and made sure it got
plenty of sunshine.
Now, we know that the speaker didn’t give his anger-plant real sunshine. Instead, he
gave it ‘smiles’ and ‘deceitful wiles’. These are more like ‘fake’ sunshine. They help plant to
grow – like real sunshine would for a real plant. The speaker suggests that he is a very
deceptive person and that he is planning something very sinister and mischievous. Whatever
it is, though, his anger seems to dig it, since those deceitful schemes are like sunshine to it.
She was a Phantom of Delight (William Wordsworth)

Summary
This is a poem written in honour of Wordsworth’s wife, Mary Hutchinson. Mary
knew Wordsworth even when they were children. In this poem, the poet treats or addresses
the subject in three different styles. In the first stanza, the poet refers to his wife as an
apparition or a phantom which is an insubstantial being. She appears to be made of light, her
eyes are like stars at night and her hair has the darkness of dusk. Her beauty can startle and
haunt him. But she is at the same time, a happy spirit who spreads joy around her.
In the next stanza, the poet speaks of her as a creature of flesh and blood. She walks
with such a light step that she seems to float as she goes about her work. She is able to cope
with the common sorrows of life with smiles, tears, love and kisses. When the poet gets to
know his wife better, he is awestruck by her strength and resourcefulness. She can be firm
when the occasion demands it though she is never harsh. She is interested in worldly and
spiritual matters equally. She is as perfect as a human being can ever be.
Death, be not proud (John Donne)
(a) not to be so (b) it will have (c) Death has (d) people (e) death bring
proud the same died don’t pleasure, not pain
effect really die
Right off the bat, the speaker starts talking smack to Death, whom he treats as a person. He
tells Death -----(1)-----, because he’s really not as scary or powerful as most people think.
The speaker starts talking in contradictions, saying that ----(2)---- when they meet Death –
and neither will the speaker. Then, he really tries to burn Death’s biscuit by comparing him to
“rest and sleep,” two things that are not scary at all. Next, to paraphrase Billy Joel, the
speaker claims that “only the good die young,” because the best people know that ----(3)----.
As if this isn’t enough trash-talk, the speaker kicks it up a notch, calling Death a “slave” and
accusing him of hanging out with those lowlifes “poison, war, and sickness.” Besides, we
don’t need Death – the speaker can just take drugs, and ----(4)----: falling asleep. So death is
just a “short sleep,” after which a good Christian will wake up and find himself in Eternity.
Once this happens, it will seem like ----(5)----. How do you like them apples?
The importance of dialogue to character development (Pride and Prejudice)

All of Austen’s many characters come alive through dialogue, as the narrative voice
in Austen’s work is secondary to the voices of the characters. Long, unwieldy speeches are
rare, as are detailed physical descriptions. In their place, the reader hears the crackle of quick,
witty conversation. True nature reveals itself in the way the characters speak; Mr bennet’s
emotional detachment comes across in his dry wit, while Mrs. Bennet’s hysterical excess
drips from every sentence she utters.
Austen’s dialogue often serves to reveal the worst aspects of her characters – Miss
Bingley’s spiteful, snobbish attitudes are readily apparent in her words, and Mr. Collins’s
long-winded speeches carry with them a tone-deaf pomposity that defines his character
perfectly. Dialogue can also conceal bad character traits: Wickham, for instance, hides his
rogue’s heart beneath the patter of pleasant, witty banter, and he manages to take Elizabeth in
with his smooth tongue.
Ultimately, though, good conversational ability and general goodness of personality
seem to go hand in hand. It is no accident that Darcy and Elizabeth are the best
conversationalists in the book: Pride and Prejudice is the story of their love, and for the
reader, that love unfolds through the words they share.

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A Poison Tree (William Blake)

She was a Phantom of Delight (William Wordsworth)

Death, be not proud (John Donne)

The importance of dialogue to character development (Pride and Prejudice)

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