The Trees . 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’? (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? . 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.
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. • 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.