Formalistic analysis of ‘A Poison Tree’ by William Blake

Abstract

The position of literature in society so far is considered a mirror of society. However, formalism declares that the basis of literature is literariness. Formalism prescribes in the independence of literature by cutting its connection from external society and makes it an independent literary science which is centered only upon the form of works. This paper aims at analyzing the formalistic nature of ‘A Poison Tree’ a poem by William Blake. The research demonstrates how form and content relate through poetic devices, writing style and phrases in the construction of meaning in this poem. This analysis is done at grapholoical, phonological, morphological, lexical and textual levels to achieve the same result. This study pinnacles the formalistic techniques in the analysis of any piece of literature while delating its mastery of William Blake’s writing.