The apple is specifically mentioned in stanza 3; however, stanza 2 is the stanza about the actual tree that this question is referring to. I would like to make mention of the fact that stanza 2 does not specifically name an "apple" or a "tree." Stanza 1 tells readers that the narrator's wrath "did grow." The narrator then waters his wrath and bathes it in sunlight as well. Stanza 3 then tells us that "it" grew until it bore an apple. "It" is two things at the same time: it is the narrator's wrath as well as the apple tree that bore the poisoned apple. The persona of the apple tree is wrath, anger, bitterness, hatred, etc. The narrator lets his anger grow and grow until it is all consuming, and it eventually causes the death of his friend. This poem is about the danger of holding on to anger and nurturing it with continued feelings of fear and deceit, because the anger won't stay static. It will grow like any plant, and the fruit that it bears will be just as poisoned as the relationship that initiated the angry feelings.
It is not until stanza three of William Blake's poem "The Poison Tree" that the comparison to an apple is made. The direct quote is,
"And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright."
This is part of an extended metaphor carried throughout the poem likening the speaker's "wrath" to a plant that the speaker cultivates by keeping it a secret and allowing it to grow deeper and darker over time. The apple in stanza three represents the fruits of this anger and in stanza four it is revealed to be a poison apple: when the speaker's enemy attempts to steal and eat the apple, it kills him.
So the apple is an instrument of revenge and can be said to represent the speaker's (or persona's, to use the terms of your question) anger at his foe.
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