How have you dealt with your anger?

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Yes, the first part is the easiest (at least in theory) - get it out of your system and you'll get over it.

The way I see the rest of the poem is the story of what happens if you don't. Not expressing your anger will usually make you think about it incessantly and feel more and more frustrated, feeding the anger from within until it becomes resentment and desire to revenge yourself - the apple bright. Also, not reacting when mistreated is often seen as a sign of weakness, so a lot of people will try to bully or take advantage of you again, and that's what you're using the apple for - to set a trap for the next time. But in my experience you might just choke on it yourself...

I also have problems with expressing anger and don't quite believe in revenge either, so I often ended up bitter and almost poisoned by the fruits of my own anger. What helps me is understanding both the motivations of the person that mistreated me and reasons why I feel so hurt, the strings and mechanisms behind my own anger. Understanding and accepting are my (bumpy) road to healing.

As for Blake - his poems and artwork fascinate me - I think he had a deep knowledge of the human psyche and find his works more useful than a lot of modern psychology. (Same goes for Marc Aurelius, quoted by Dussel, one of the most wise and balanced authors I've ever read - but somehow I feel closer to the visceral Blake.)

I usually supress it

Yes that's what I'd say Blake was driving at - but the symbolism suggested further depth......that apple for a start. So I had a look round, and apparently he originally titled it "Christian Forebearance." Looks like he was (in a clandestine way) blaming the Christianity of the time for this anger-repression thing, hence the apple - an allusion to the Garden of Eden, I guess. There's a little bit about it at the bottom of the page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Poison_Tree

I recall reading years ago that Blake didn't repress his own anger at all, he'd just let it rip, though he seems to have done little harm. I wonder what would happen if we all started behaving the same way - total chaos and bloodshed, or would it work out to be a lot better than what we've got?

For me, I find that martial arts is a great way to release anger in a safe way. Other things I do are yoga and meditation. I was taught that anger was a bad thing, when in reality, repressing it is bad for yourself and others if it gets to the point where one snaps and does something they otherwise wouldn't.

Sorry, ToughDiamond, I was posting in the middle of the night and I didn't realise how condescending I sounded explaining the obvious. I'll try to get that foot out of my mouth now

Had no idea about the original title, but it fits pretty well with Blake's mixed feelings about Christianity.

As for the second part, I'm inclined to believe the result would be bloodshed and chaos, especially since your regular Tom, Dick and Harry are not exactly Blake material It's hard to find a balance - beside law, religion, ethics or political correctness are setting rules meant to stop people ripping each other's heads off, but often push things so far, that many feel they don't have freedom to express themselves anymore.

No worries - after re-reading my original comments, I think I didn't express myself very clearly, and had made it look as if I couldn't fathom any meaning in anything but the first verse.


I gather he was strongly against what the established church of the time had done to Christianity, and I'm with him on that one. There's so much beauty and truth in religion but a lot of the people involved with it tend to turn it into a cloak for politics and control-freakery.


I agree, it's a real conundrum. People need to feel free to express a reasonable amount of aggression, though "reasonable" is a term that's wide open to abuse. Ethics can never be completely pinned down objectively. I think a sincere study of anger management could help.

I don't get angry a lot. Well, I might get as angry as most people, but it rarely threatens to overwhelm me. I mostly channel my anger into creative expression: usually I create little comic strips featuring stick people who are utterly dysfunctional.
I like these comics a lot, but out of context they appear to have been crafted by a psychopathic mind. They're really, really dark.

When I get angry, it affects me physically. I turn red, I cry, I can't even talk. It makes me look like a freak, and is seriously NOT HELPFUL.

So I've worked really hard, over the years, at not getting angry, or if I do, letting go of it as quickly as possible. For example, I can't tell when people are being nice or teasing. So I just assume they are being nice, had good intentions. It wasn't great as a kid, but tends to work really well in adult life. If people are being dicks, they usually get embarrassed and stop. Either way, I don't get angry about it, so I feel much happier.

I also, when I notice myself perseverating on something negative, running it through my head over and over, derail that train by thinking about something really fun and interesting to me. I also use music and meditation to let go of anger and focus on more positive things.

Now, the downside of this is that if I'm angry about something someone has done, I sometimes avoid conflict with them and just never deal with the problem. But I'm trying to remember to go back and address it later, with "I-statements." Its working pretty well.

i wanna see 'em.

I've only just realised I've been an aspie all my life and no one noticed, but I'm SO glad to find this thread. I've been dealing with rages for all my adult life and I'd just put it down to random passive aggression. Finding out yet another bit that fits in with this new found realisation is a huge relief.

Now if only I can find some way to vent it slightly better than my immediately available family :/

I channeled it into drawing extremely violent comics when I was in sixth grade. I already drew a lot, though, but it took the edge off. I don't know how much it helped, but it was fun drawing my character tearing the s**t out of the kinds of people whom I thought made my life miserable, and it was good practice -- I got better at it over the years.

That was a very long time ago now. Rather than indulge in dark fantasies, I try to remind myself that if I want to feel better, I have to do what everyone else does - a lot of boring, painful, extremely difficult work, without many of the rewards that more well-adjusted people take for granted.

My roomie did a funny comic that shows one of the things we both like to do to blow off steam

http://www.lifewithzola.com/?comicDate=2009-04-07

To get rid or reduce my anger, I go to my logical state and try to rationalize for why a certain thing/incident makes me angry. Once I fail to fully give myself a good reason, and that what pissed me off won't ruin the rest of my life, I then try to forget it by doing other things, especially study or my hobbies.

I dunno...
I never really got angry until I had children...
... today I had a meltdown and I am ashamed of my behavior. (No , I didn't beat them... just out of control)
I am struggling with this one right now. Learning about the Asperger's is a big step in realizing what is going on with me...
... but it has caused me to become rather self-absorbed right now- and my children (who have Aspie tendencies as well)are very good at pushing my buttons...
I was a very *good* child as I wanted adults to be happy with me... their behavior befuddles me. (They take after dad).
Very frustrated right now.
Hubby and I have had a lot of parenting discussions lately- we are changing our *tactics* so to speak... hopefully it helps.

I don't have a problem with being angry - I do it quite well - it's everyone else that can't handle it.

Having been taught in younger years, in sort of a sideways manner, "it's bad to be angry", a lot of anger got stuffed down in the depths.
Eventually there was no room left.
Boom Krakatoa

I am a creature of emotion who did not get early training in how to have and use emotion.
Learning the hard way, now.
Have been told I can yell loud enough to make people's ears ring - in a perverse way I'm actually proud of me for that.

Have a collection of old glass jars that I'll take from to break to release some of anger energy.
Have tried all the other psychologist suggested things and it is only breaking glass that seems to be a release for anger without doing things like hitting people or throwing things at them.

We have found that in some cases the anger is a, umm, ohh, what word?, layer of covering over great hurt buried. Once that particular anger is released a very very deep hurt can come out to be revealed.

Anger is still a struggle and will likely always be - especially in sensory overload situations.

Martial arts, twice a week.