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 watered 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 veiled the pole:
In the morning, glad, I see
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
-William Blake
Although this poem could apply to seemingly anyone, since mostly everyone has someone they do not like, its meaning is beautifully woven throughout the poem and brings the poem to a deeper level beyond just an argument with a friend or foe. This is a work that makes a complex emotion like anger more tangible to try to comprehend. Personally, I don’t like being in fights with people because it’s so much work when you could just tell them what is wrong, which makes both lives easier. However, if left to fester and grow, the anger just multiplies and gets worse. The imagery used is spectacular, Blake superbly completes the metaphor of anger as a tree because every time we cry or lie about our feelings we are just enabling the problem to get larger. And eventually, this poisonous tree will produce fruit that can kill; anger left too long can result in violence.
In addition, this work is one big biblical reference! Anger (wrath) is one of the seven deadly sins, a sin that man tries to resist but cannot. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we often give into our emotions and desires before we think of the consequences. In a way, we now are almost like the snake because we know the apple is bad and yet we let the person take it anyways. Then the foe is forever expelled from the garden (since they are dead) and we are just as guilty. Darn human nature!!! Why waste your life hating someone when you would both be better off giving each other a chance? If we were all more consciously understanding and empathetic of each other, I think the world would be much better off. There are so many people who I could not stand, but I decided to try and get to know better instead of judging them. And now they are some of my very best friends. okay, i’m done ranting haha. almost.
Foes can be turned into friends, you just need to be mature enough to embrace your differences and learn from each other.
My Words of Wisdom 