The Trees

1.0About the Poet

Adrienne Cecile Rich (May 16, 1929 - March 27, 2012) was an American poetess, essayist and feminist. She was called 'one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century.' Her first collection of poetry, 'A Change of World', was selected by renowned poet W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. Auden went on to write the introduction to the published volume. She famously declined the National Medal of Arts, protesting the vote by House Speaker Newt Gingrich to end funding for the National Endowment for the Arts.

2.0Central Idea

The central idea of the poem 'The Trees' is that Man has enslaved the nature for selfish reasons. The Poet personifies the trees and creates an imagery for situation of women in society The trees which used to grow in forest are now being grown in the four walls of house. Hence, they are not free at all. But now all the trees have started a movement against this slavery. They are now returning to their original home i.e., forest. The poet describes this departure of the trees in the poem.

3.0Freedom is Sweet

The poet observed that the trees in her house were moving outside into the forest which had been empty for a long time. It is important to understand that the trees are not actually moving, but it has been used as an imagery by the poet to show the destroyed forests and the false nature that humans have tried to keep in their houses for creating a false impression of nature or for decoration.

Since the forest outside was empty, no birds could sit on the branches of trees, no insects could hide in the trees and sunlight could never disappear under the shadows of the trees.

The poet said that as the trees are moving out, the forests which were empty all these nights would be full of trees by the morning. It seemed like the trees worked silently in the night in order to complete their mission of getting free from the boundaries of the house. Therefore, the roots of the tree worked all night to free themselves through the cracks on the veranda floor. The leaves of the trees tried very hard to put a lot of pressure on the glass window so that they could break it and go outside. The small twigs had become very hard due to applying so much pressure to free themselves. The larger branches of the trees had shrunk and had bent because of being inside all the walls and under the roof, where they could not grow much. Trees tried to move slowly from there and looked like newly discharged patients from a hospital, who became half-shocked on coming to the outside world.

4.0Natural Habitat

The poet sits in her house, writing long letters, with the doors of house opening to the Veranda. She does not mention in her letters about the trees that are moving out to the empty forest. It is a full moon night where the moon is shining in the open sky and the night is very fresh.

The smell of leaves and lichens reaches the poet like a voice coming from the rooms of the house. The poet listens to the sounds coming from the leaves and lichens of the trees. These sounds will not be there in the morning as the trees will move out to the forest in the night and will not be in the house by morning. Now, the poet can hear the glass breaking due to the efforts of the twigs. The trees hurry outside stumbling on each other. As the trees go in the open, it seems like the wind is moving fast towards them to meet them. After going out into the forest, the tall trees stand straight in the forest. Its branches cover the moon due to which it looks like a broken mirror. The broken piece of the moon seems like a crown of the tallest oak tree.

5.0Poetic Devices used in the Poem

• Personification- It is a literary device that refers to the projection of human characteristics onto inanimate objects in order to create imagery. Examples : The poet has personified the sun by using 'burry feet' for it. The poet has personified the twigs and boughs.
• Enjambment - The sentence is being continued to the next line without a break Example : The forest that was...trees by morning.
• Anaphora - It is the repetition of a word at the start of two or more consecutive lines Example : No insect hide No sun bury its feet in shadow
• Imagery - It is a poetic device that refers to the use of figurative language to evoke a sensory experience or create a picture with words for a reader. Examples : The poet has used kinaesthetic (relating to movement in the body) imagery by giving us a visual description throughout the stanza. The poet has used imagery by giving us a tactile description - small twigs stiff with exertion (Tactile sense).
• Simile - A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid. 'As' and 'like' are used for making comparison. Example - The poet has compared trees to newly discharged patients using 'like'.

6.0Let's Recall

• The poet talks about trees symbolically. They refer to women who have been healed and are ready to move out of their houses to fulfil their primary purpose-to renew the forest of mankind.
• The forest has become empty, the birds and insects rendered shelter less.
• The Sun's rays do not have the tree trunks and leaves to fall upon and thus, reach the earth. She says that the forest will be full of trees the next morning.
• The roots of the trees are working hard to separate from the floor of the veranda where they have remained fixed.
• The leaves and branches are moving towards the glass windows. They are desperate to move out just like a newly discharged patient who has not recovered completely, moves to the exit door of the hospital in a hurry.
• The poet is sitting in her house with the doors of the veranda open. She is writing letters but does not mention this movement of the trees.
• It is night time, the sky is clear and a bright moon is visible. She can smell the leaves and lichen which seem to be calling out desperately.
• She hears the glass of the windowpane breaking. The trees are moving out and the fastblowing wind embraces them.
• As the trees have reached the forest, the tall and strong oak tree overshadows the moon and it seems that the moon has been broken into several pieces.