The speaker also addresses himself. The conflict does not come from outside the speaker; it is all within him. This makes the conflict that much more difficult to bear and this motivates him to write the poem, if for nothing else than to ease his spirit.

The speaker resolves the conflict through admission. It is a painful admission because the speaker must admit to his own humanity while doing so. It was his own anger that planted the seed and allowed his foe to eat the fruit. The tree in the poet's imagination is like the tree in Eden in that they both are corrupt. The significance of the events occurring in the speaker's mind forces him to admit his humanity. He is corrupt and morally wrong for allowing these events to occur, even if they did occur only in his mind.

"A Poison Tree" tells the tale of the...
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