The Trees || Class 10th English || C.B.S.E. Board
The Trees || Class 10th English || C.B.S.E. Board
By Adrienne Rich
1- Introduction
2- Stanza Wise Explanation
3- Poetic Devices
4- Word-Meaning
5- Textbook Exercises
6- Revision Exercise
7- To Conclude
1-Introduction
This is a very beautiful poem written by Adrienne Rich. She was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She got this reward of one of the most influential poet of the second half of the 20th century. She was born on 16th May 1929 in Maryland, United States of America. She has written nearly twenty volumes of poetry.
The poem shows the conflict between the human beings and nature. With the passage of time human beings have used nature for their own benefit without having any concern for nature. With this poem the poet wants to give the message that with the presence of few trees inside our homes does not give us the feeling of nature. Real nature lies outside i.e. the forest is the natural habitat of trees. The poem tells us how the trees want to break the barriers built by human beings and wants to live in their natural habitat.
2-Stanza Wise Explanation
Stanza 1
The trees inside are moving out into the forest,
The forest that was empty all these days
where no bird could sit
no insect hide
no Sun bury its feet in shadow
the forest that was empty all these nights
will be full of trees by morning.
Explanation
In the above lines, The poet says that the trees in her house are moving outside into the forest and these forests were empty for a long time. These trees are kept into the houses for decoration. As the forest were empty, no bird could sit on the branches of the trees, no insect could hide themselves in the trees and the sunlight could not be covered by the shadow of the trees. As the trees are moving out, the forest which were empty all these nights will be full of trees by morning.
Stanza 2
All night the roots work
To disengage themselves from the cracks
In the veranda floor.
The leaves strain toward the glass
small twigs stiff with exertion
long-crammed boughs shuffling under the roof
like newly discharged patients
half-dazed, moving to the clinic doors.
Explanation
It seems like the trees work silently in the night in order to get free from the house. They want to disengage themselves through the cracks on the veranda floor. The leaves make a lot of effort on the window glass so that they could break . Small branches have become very hard because they applied too much pressure to free themselves. The larger branches of the trees have shrunk and bend down becausr they are present inside the walls and under the roof. They look like newly discharged patients from a clinic, who are half shocked on coming out from the clinic.
Stanza 3
I sit inside, doors open to the veranda
writing long letters
in which I scarcely mentioned the departure of the
forest from the house.
The night is fresh, the whole moon shines in the sky
Still open
The smell of leaves and lichen
It still reaches like a voice into the rooms.
Explanation
The poet sit in her house. The doors of her house open to the veranda. End point is writing long letters in which she hardly mentions the departure of trees from her house. She says that the night is fresh and the whole moon is shining in the open sky. The smell of leaves and lichen remind her of the voice coming from the rooms of the house.
Stanza 4
My head is full of whispers
Which tomorrow will be silent.
Listen. The glass is breaking.
The trees are stumbling forward
Into the night. Winds Rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
Of the tallest oak.
Explanation
The poet listens to the sounds coming from the leaves and listens on the trees. This sounds will not be present tomorrow as the trees will have moved out into the forest in the night. She can hear the noise off glass breaking. The trees hurry themselves to go outside and in that hurry, they fell on each other and get stuck at different places. The wind is moving fast towards them to meet them. Its branches cover the moon and you do this it's look like a broken mirror. The broken pieces of the moon seems like a crown that is kept on the tallest oak tree.
3-Poetic Devices
• Simile – Is comparing two unlike things or objects that have some common qualities in them.
The moon is broken like a mirror (Stanza 4)
Moon is compare to the mirror.
• Enjambment- It occurs when there in no punctuation mark in between lines.
The forest that was empty all these days
Where no bird could sit
No insect hide
No Sun bury its feet in shadow
The forest that was empty all these nights
Will be full of trees by morning.(Stanza 1)
• Alliteration- It is the occurrence of the same sound at the beginning of the closely connected words.
Long letters (Stanza 3)
Sky still (Stanza 3)
Forest from (Stanza 3)
• Personification- It occurs when a poet gives human traits to non-living objects. It is similar to Simile and metaphor that also uses comparison.
No Sun bury its feet in shadow (Stanza 1)
Leaves strain towards the glass (Stanza 2)
• Anaphora- Repetition of same word at the beginning of the consecutive lines.
No insect hide
No Sun bury its feet in shadow (Stanza 1)
4-Word-Meaning
• Disengage- to get free
• strain- make lot of effort
• twigs- small branches
• stiff- hard
• exertion- pressure
• cramped- shrunk
• boughs- large branches of tree
• half-dazed- half asleep
• whispers- sound
• scarcely- hardly
• stumbling- falling over
• flash- shine
• Oak – tree name
5-Textbook Exercises
I-•Find, In the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest.
• What pictures Do these words create in your mind: “....Sun bury its feet in shadow....”? What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet’?
Ans- The three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest, are
No birds can sit on trees.
No insect can hide in trees.
Sunlight cannot be covered under the shadow of the trees.
The picture That these words create in our mind is that if there are no trees, the rays of the sun fall directly to the ground. And if there is a forest with full of trees, then the sunrays are covered by the shadow of the trees. Head Suns feet refer to the rays of the sun.
II-Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves and their twigs do? ( CBSE 2017)
What does the poet compare their branches to?
Ans- The trees are in the poet’s house.
The roots work all night to release themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor. The leaves try hard and put pressure on the glass to break it whereas the twigs have become very hard as they applied a lot of pressure to free themselves.
Comparison is made to newly discharged patients from a clinic. The larger branches of the trees bent because they cannot move and grow. When they move hurrily due to which they fall in each other.
While doing so, they look half-shocked like the patients, who wait for a long time to get out of the clinic.
III-How does The poet described the moon: a- at the beginning of the third stanza and b- at its end? What causes this change?
•What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?
•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.
Ans- At the beginning of the third stanza, the poet says that the whole moon is shining in the open sky.
•At the end of the poem, the poet describes that the moon breaks into pieces like a broken mirror and it seems like a crown that is kept an oak tree.
•It is caused as the trees move outside, and their branches cover some parts of the moon due to which it can be seen only in parts.
•When the trees moves out of the house, the house will go completely silent as the smell of the leaves and lichen which was coming from the room’s like a voice will no longer be heard.
• The poet does not mention the departure of the forest from the house in her letter becausr she is shocked and embarrassed at the sudden happenings. The boy knows very well that human beings cut the trees for decorative purposes.
Also the poet realised the importance of trees and forest and natural habitat of trees is forest.
IV- 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 breakout?
Ans- Yes, the poem presents a conflict between human beings and nature. According to the poem, man is responsible for deforestation. Not only trees but man is also endangering animals. The boy a tiger in a zoo also presents a conflict between human being and nature. In this poem, a tiger should live in forest instead of zoo.
Both plants and animals have become imprisoned as trees are being cut down and animals are put behind the cage.
6-Revision Exercise
I-My head Is full of whispers
Which tomorrow will be silent.
Listen. The glass is breaking.
The trees are stumbling forward
Into the night. Winds rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
of the tallest oak. (Cbse 2016)
i-The speaker is listening to the sound of
a- leaves
b-lichen
c-both a and b
d- parrot
ii-Whose whispers are mentioned here?
a-sound of wind blowing
b- of trees
c- both a and b
d- none
iii-Why are trees stumbling forward?
a- want to move out
b- have grown big
c- can’t remain inside the house
d-both b and c
iv-Which poetic device has been used in the line ‘the moon is broken like a mirror'?
a-Simile
b-Metaphor
c-Oxymoron
d-Alliteration
II-The trees in the poem stretch out their branches, break barriers and struggle hard to move out in the open in their natural environment.
Analyse the efforts that one puts into break away captivity and strive for freedom.(CBSE 2013)
Ans- For anyone, freedom is much more important than any kind of comfort. Freedom is essential for all living beings be it man, a bird or trees. All living beings strive for freedom and are happiest when free.
In the poem, the poet presents the intensity of the efforts put in by the trees to break away from the bondage of human beings. All parts of a tree it stretched out to break away from the enclosed walls of the house. They want to live in their natural habitat that is forest.
III-What message does Adrienne Rich want to convey through the poem, 'The trees’?
Ans- The poet highlights the importance of trees and she wants to give the message of afforestation. Without trees the birds would not have a place to sit, insects could not hide themselves, and the sun would not be able to bury its feet in the shadow of the trees.
The point here by needs to be kept in the natural habitat that is forest and not be imprisoned inside the house for decorative purpose. They tend to be there to where they actually belongs.
IV- What are the whispers that fill the head of the poet?
Ans- The whispers that filled ahead of the poet are of the smell of the leaves and listen that reaches her like voices into the rooms of the house. These voices represent the silent struggle of the trees to get free from the bondage of human beings. trees are now struggling to move to the forest that is their natural habitat.
7-To Conclude
I hope the above article would be a great help in your upcoming exams. If any doubt you can reach me through the comments section below and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Cheque my home page for other notes of class 10th syllabus. Thank you...
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