The Trees

 

The Trees

Introduction

The poem ‘The Trees’ by Adrienne Rich is a symbolic piece that highlights the eternal struggle for freedom and growth. Through the image of trees trying to move out of the confines of a house into the open forest, the poet reflects on themes of liberation, renewal, and the power of nature.      

Theme

Adrienne Rich’s poem “The Trees” reflects both feminist and ecological concerns. The poet, often called a radical and feminist voice, uses the extended metaphor of trees to represent women. Just as trees confined indoors long to return to the forest, women confined within the four walls of their homes yearn to step out, claim freedom, and avail the same opportunities as men. The poem powerfully depicts their struggle for liberation and identity. At another level, the poem highlights the conflict between man and nature. By keeping ornamental trees indoors and destroying natural habitats in the name of development, humans disrupt the natural order. Thus, the poem conveys a dual message—of women’s emancipation and of restoring nature to its rightful place.

Summary

The trees in Adrienne Rich’s poem are symbolic of women. Confined within closed rooms, they struggle to move out and reclaim their rightful space. The poet suggests that change is imminent, as women—like the trees—are constantly striving to liberate themselves from restrictions. Every part of the tree represents different sections of women, straining to break free from the four walls of their houses. Just as human society is incomplete without women, nature too is incomplete without trees. The absence of trees has left the forests empty, birds and insects without shelter, and the earth without shade.

The poet observes the silent yet powerful movement of trees but does not mention it directly in the letter she writes from her room. In the treeless forest, the moon is fully visible, while the smell of leaves and lichen seems to carry the voices of the trees. At last, the trees succeed in their struggle—they break the glass panes of the house and move forward, welcomed by the wind. As they return to the forest, the shining moon appears like a broken mirror, its fragments glittering on the treetops.

Poetic Devices

Personification: (a) Sun bury its feet. Sun has been personified.

                                (b) twigs and boughs have been personified.

 

Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence to the next line (the forest that was…… trees by morning).

 

Anaphora: Two consecutive lines in stanza 1 begin with ‘no’

 

Imagery: (a) The trees inside are moving out into the forest” – shows kinesthetic imagery

   (b) The poet has tried to create a scene in which she is observing all the things happening (the night is fresh…… in the rooms)

 

Enjambment: continuation of sentence to the next line (the leaves strain……. Half dazed)

 

Simile:  (a) trees compared to patients (like newly discharged patients)

                (b) The moon is compared to a mirror (Moon is broken like a mirror)

 

Alliteration: ‘long letters’, ‘forest from’, ‘sky still’ ,‘leaves and lichen’

 

 

Additional Questions:

Q1. It is not only humans but other creatures also suffer because of no trees in the forest. Write your comment how do they suffer in context with the poem.

Q2. Mention the actions of parts of the trees show the trees are making their labourious efforts to liberate them.

Q3.  What message does the poet want to convey through the poem?

Q4. Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

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.

               

(a)    What do you mean by the term “My head is full of whispers”? Why it will be silent the next day?

(b)   What does the “breaking of glass” symbolizes?

(c)    Why the trees are stumbling forward?

(d)   What do you mean by the term “The moon is broken like a mirror?” What is the significance of broken moon in the poem?

(e)   Find the poetic devices in the extract.

Board Questions

2020

Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

Winds rush to meet them.

The moon is broken like a mirror,

Its piece flash now in the crown of the tallest oak.

 

(a)    Who is the poet?

(b)   What is “crown of the oak” refers to?

(c)    Pick word that is synonym for “shine”.

 

Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

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.

 

(a)    What are the trees trying to do?

(b)   Why was the forest empty?

(c)    What was the figure of speech used?

2024

‘The Trees’ is a symbolic poem and Adrienne Rich has used trees as a metaphor for human beings. What do they symbolize? Explain.”

2025

Read the following extract and answer the questions that follow:

sit inside, doors open to the veranda

writing long letters

in which I scarcely mention the departure

of the forest from the house.

The night is fresh, the whole moon shines

in a sky still open

the smell of leaves and lichen

still reaches like a voice into the rooms.

 

(a)    What mood or atmosphere does the imagery create?

(b)   What are the two different meanings of “open” in the extract?

(c)    What is missing from the letters the speaker writes?

(d)   How does the poet describe the night?

Short-Answer:

“What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?”