NCERT Solutions Class 10 English First Flight Poem Chapter 5 The Trees

NCERT Solutions Class 10 English First Flight - Poem Chapter 5: The Trees provides answers to all the questions in the textbook on the poem by Adrienne Rich. The poem describes the trees, and their silent desire to break free of indoor captivity, to return to outdoor freedom. The poem encourages students to think in a different way about humanity and the environment. 

The NCERT Solutions are designed to assist Class 10 students' understanding of the poem, and the meaning, themes, and poetic devices, in a very reader-friendly way. With clear explanations and relevant insights, these NCERT Solutions allow students to prepare better for the exam, to understand the author's intent, and presumably, enhance their interest in poetry. Finally, the solutions are based on the latest NCERT Syllabus and represent a good means of being prepared quickly.

1.0Download NCERT Solutions Class 10 English First Flight Poem Chapter 5 The Trees : Free PDF

Download NCERT Solutions Class 10 English First Flight Poem Chapter 5 The Trees in our free PDF format, crafted for easy understanding and quick revision by experts.

2.0Class 10 English Chapter 5 The Trees: Brief Explanations

In Chapter 5 of the First Flight textbook, The Trees by Adrienne Rich presents a powerful metaphor about nature’s urge to break free from artificial boundaries. Through vivid imagery and personification, the poem shows how trees—though physically inside a house—struggle to return to their natural habitat, the forest.

The NCERT Solutions for this poem help Class 10 students understand the deeper meaning of each stanza. It explains how the poet uses the movement of trees as a symbol for freedom, resistance, and restoration of the environment. These solutions simplify the poem's ideas and help learners appreciate its symbolic value while preparing them for exams with detailed, clear explanations.

3.0NCERT Class 10 English Chapter 5: Detailed Solutions

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

Ans. (i) Three things that cannot happen in a 'treeless forest' are: (a) Birds sitting on the branches of the trees. (b) Insects hiding between the leaves and branches of the trees. (c) The sun burying its feet in the shadows of the trees in the forest. (ii) The words "... sun bury its feet in shadow..." create a visual imagery of sunrays reaching down to the earth and creating patterns of shadows. The sun's 'feet' refers to the rays of sun that reach the earth and the forest.

2. (i) Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs do? (ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?

Ans. (i) In the poem, the trees are in the poet's house. Their roots work all night to disengage themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor. The leaves make efforts to move towards the glass, while the small twigs get stiff with exertion. (ii) The poet compares the long-cramped boughs or branches that shuffle under the roof to patients that have been newly discharged from hospital. The patients are half dazed after having recovered from an illness and move slowly towards the clinic doors longing to be out of the hospital. In a similar way, the branches of the trees are cramped under the closed roof and are longing to get out into the

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

This signifies the fact that plants and animals feel caged by humans and want to break out from the imprisonment at the hands of humans. They too have feelings and they may long for freedom. We must not imprison them for our amusement; we need to set them free. No matter what facilities we give them in captivity, it will never compensate for the freedom they will experience in their natural habitat. (ii) If trees are symbolic of human beings, then it could be said that humans too want to break away from the shackles of the busy and selfish lives they lead. They also want to go out into the nature and be free. They work all day and sometimes all night to try and achieve something though they do not have the time to enjoy it. They keep striving hard in their routines as they feel cramped under the roofs of their homes and offices. Even they want to break free and go out into the peaceful nature.

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.

Ans. In the poem 'On Killing a Tree' by Gieve Patel, the poet uses strong images to explain how it is not easy to kill and destroy a tree. Just stabbing, hacking or chopping it with a knife will not do. Only when the roots are pulled out of its source of nourishment and exposed to the elements will one be able to kill the tree. In both the poems, the poets consider the trees as living beings with human qualities. In the poem, 'On Killing a Tree,' the poet uses words like 'bleeding bark', 'heal', 'pain' and 'most sensitive' to personify the trees. The title itself likens the act of killing a tree to murder and brings out the brutality of cutting a tree. Similarly in the poem, 'The Trees' the poet also feels that it is not right for us to keep plants and trees in captivity simply to decorate our homes. They need to be out in the forests i.e. their natural habitat. Both poems convey an environmental message that we need to protect and preserve trees and prevent their destruction. This should be done by planting them, not in our closed homes but out in the open where they can be free with the rest of nature. We should not hurt them as they are also living and too feel pain. Both poems also bring out the fact that we human beings often just stand and watch atrocities committed against trees in silence. We stay aloof, negligent and unaffected by these brutal attacks on nature. The contrast between the two poems is seen in the way they end. In 'The trees', Adrienne Rich describes the trees breaking free and escaping from their captivity to freedom. In the poem, 'On Killing a Tree' however, the helpless tree is finally killed and is unable to escape the brutality of man.

4.0Key Features and Benefits of Class 10 English Chapter 5 The Trees

• Understanding The Poem: The Trees by Adrienne Rich has been simplified to help Class 10 students grasp the relevant meaning in a meaningful way, without being confused.
• Relating Nature to Freedom: The poem will assist students in understanding how trees depict freedom, as well as the tendency to want to break free from limitations.
• Understanding each line: The notes explain each line of the poem in an easy way for learning and easier remembering.
• Cover Poetic devices: Important poetic devices that Rich uses (personification, imagery, figurative language, and symbolism) are explained and provide examples directly from the poem.
• Enhancing Exam Preparation: The notes also hope to help students achieve perfect answers in exams by covering all NCERT questions and predictions, and their explanations.
• Nurturing imagination and thinking: The Trees inspire students to think imaginatively about nature, human interaction and space.