The Trees (Poem) Question Answer – Class 10 English

Before You Read

Can there be a forest without trees? Where are the trees in this poem, and where do they go?

A real forest cannot exist without trees; a forest without trees is only empty land. In this poem the trees are inside the poet's house, on the veranda and under the roof, with their roots caught in the cracks of the veranda floor. During the night they break free and move out into the forest, so that the forest which was empty will be "full of trees by morning".

Thinking about the Poem

1. (i) Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest.

In a treeless forest:

(a) no bird can sit on the branches;
(b) no insect can hide;
(c) the sun cannot "bury its feet in shadow", because there are no trees to make shade.

1. (ii) What picture do these words create in your mind: "... sun bury its feet in shadow..."? What could the poet mean by the sun's 'feet'?

These words create a picture of the sun's rays falling through thick leaves and disappearing into the cool shade on the forest floor, as if the sun were resting its feet in the shadows. The sun's 'feet' are its rays, which reach down to the earth. In a forest full of trees, the rays are lost in the shade below; in a treeless forest there is no shade, so this cannot happen. The image is an example of personification.

2. (i) Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs do?

The trees are inside the poet's house, on the veranda and under the roof, with their roots caught in the cracks of the veranda floor. They are trying hard to escape to the forest.

• The roots work all night "to disengage themselves from the cracks / in the veranda floor".
• The leaves "strain toward the glass", pushing towards the windows to get out.
• The small twigs are "stiff with exertion", stretched with the effort.
• The long-cramped boughs shuffle under the roof, moving towards the doors.

2. (ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?

The poet compares the branches to "newly discharged patients / half-dazed, moving / to the clinic doors". Like patients who have been ill and shut up in hospital for a long time, the branches have been cramped under the roof. Now, set free, they move slowly and unsteadily, still half-dazed, towards the exit. This simile shows both their weakness and their eagerness to be free.

3. (i) How does the poet describe the moon: (a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and (b) at its end? What causes this change?

(a) At the beginning, the "whole moon shines / in a sky still open". The moon is full and bright, and the sky is clear because no trees block the view.

(b) At the end, "The moon is broken like a mirror, / its pieces flash now in the crown / of the tallest oak." The moon now looks broken into pieces.

The change is caused by the trees moving out into the forest. Once the trees stand outside, the moon is seen through the leaves and branches of the tall oak, so its light falls in small, scattered patches. It seems broken like a mirror.

3. (ii) What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?

When the trees move out, the house is left empty of the trees. Their struggle to escape damages it: "The glass is breaking" as the trees push through, and they stumble forward into the night. The house loses its living greenery. Only "the smell of leaves and lichen" stays behind and "reaches like a voice into the rooms", reminding the poet of the trees that have gone.

3. (iii) Why do you think the poet does not mention "the departure of the forest from the house" in her letters? (Could it be that we are often silent about important happenings that are so unexpected that they embarrass us? Think about this again when you answer the next set of questions.)

The poet "scarcely" mentions the departure because it is so strange and unexpected that she does not know how to explain it, and others might not believe her. People are often silent about important events that surprise or embarrass them. She may also feel uncomfortable because humans caused the problem by imprisoning the trees indoors. If the trees stand for women, the silence may show that a woman breaking free from the home is a big event which society does not openly talk about. Her head is "full of whispers / which tomorrow will be silent", which shows that she feels the importance of the event but keeps it to herself.

4. Now that you have read the poem in detail, we can begin to ask what the poem might mean. Here are two suggestions. Can you think of others?

(i) Does the poem present a conflict between man and nature? Compare it with A Tiger in the Zoo. Is the poet suggesting that plants and trees, used for 'interior decoration' in cities while forests are cut down, are 'imprisoned', and need to 'break out'?

Yes, the poem presents a conflict between man and nature. Humans cut down forests and then keep trees in pots inside their houses for decoration. Such trees are prisoners: their roots are trapped in cracks and their boughs are "long-cramped" under the roof. At night they break the glass and return to the forest, where they belong.

This is very like A Tiger in the Zoo by Leslie Norris. The tiger is locked in a concrete cell and dreams of the jungle, where it could hunt freely. Both poems show that nature suffers when man confines it for his own pleasure. The difference is that the tiger can only dream of freedom, while the trees actually escape. So the poet does suggest that trees used for 'interior decoration' are imprisoned and need to 'break out'. The poem warns us to protect forests instead of shutting nature indoors.

(ii) On the other hand, Adrienne Rich has been known to use trees as a metaphor for human beings; this is a recurrent image in her poetry. What new meanings emerge from the poem if you take its trees to be symbolic of this particular meaning?

If the trees stand for human beings, especially women, the poem becomes a story of the struggle for freedom. Adrienne Rich is called a feminist poet. In her time, many women were confined to the home and expected to be decorative and quiet, like potted plants. The empty forest stands for the wider world of work and public life, where women were absent. The trees' painful struggle to free their roots shows how hard it is for women to break away from old customs. The breaking glass suggests breaking social barriers, and "Winds rush to meet them" shows the world welcoming them. The poet's silence in her letters shows that such a change was often not openly discussed.

Another possible meaning: the poem may describe any person, man or woman, who escapes a narrow, controlled life to find his or her true self.

5. You may read the poem 'On Killing a Tree' by Gieve Patel (Beehive – Textbook in English for Class IX, NCERT). Compare and contrast it with the poem you have just read.

Similarities:

• Both poems are about trees and the relationship between man and nature.
• Both use free verse and strong personification, giving trees life, strength and will.
• Both show that trees are hardy living beings with deep roots that do not give in easily.
• Both show that man harms trees, either by cutting them or by confining them.

Differences:

• In 'On Killing a Tree', man is the active destroyer. The poet coldly describes how a tree can only be killed by pulling out its roots, leaving it to scorch, choke and die. In 'The Trees', the trees themselves are active; they break free from man's control.
• Patel's poem ends in death and defeat for the tree; Rich's poem ends in escape and freedom.
• Patel's tone is ironic and harsh, almost like a set of instructions for killing. Rich's tone is calm, mysterious and dream-like.
• 'On Killing a Tree' is mainly about cruelty to nature, while 'The Trees' can also be read as a symbol of human, especially women's, freedom.

Homophones

Can you find the words below that are spelt similarly, and sometimes even pronounced similarly, but have very different meanings? Check their pronunciation and meaning in a dictionary.

(Strictly, these pairs are spelt the same but differ in pronunciation and meaning; such words are also called heteronyms.)

The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.

When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.

The insurance was invalid for the invalid.