Aestheticism in Toru Dutt’s “Our

Casuarina Tree”
Posted on December 14, 2014 by Maddie Zack

Maddie Zack

British Victorian Literature

Foss

But not because of its magnificence

Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:

Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,

O sweet companions, loved with love intense,

For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear!

Blent with your images, it shall arise

In memory, till the hot tears blind mine eyes!

In this poem, Dutt reminisces on her childhood through the remembrance of the Casuarina
tree that she and her siblings played beneath. The tree itself acts as an aesthetic symbol for
her memory, especially that of her dead brother and sister. In the the selected passage, Dutt
expresses a sense of pathos that is not previously present in the first two stanzas saying, “In
memory, till hot tears blind mine eyes!” (29) Her brother and sister tragically died a young
age and this sentence reveals her sorrow through aesthetic imagery. Throughout the poem she
describes the tree’s “indented deep scars,” and it’s height that almost reaches the “stars” (2-
3). She talks of overgrown gardens, pastures with “sleeping cows” (19), waves that “gently
kissed the classic shore” (38). Aestheticism processes the ability to evoke the beauty and
importance of something that may not usually be regarded as so.

Due her use of aestheticism to communicate to the reader the depth of the importance of the
tree, Dutt is then able to communicate the sadness she feels over loosing her brother and
sister whom she used to play with under the tree. The end sentence of the above stanza , “In
memory, till hot tears blind my eyes” reveals her deep sadness over her loss. Because her use
of aestheticism is able to convey the profoundness of the tree in her life, we are able to
understand the depth of the connection between the tree and her siblings. If Dutt were to just
say that she played under the casuarina tree with her siblings and now that they are gone she
remembers the tree in order to remember them, it would not have the same affect on the
reader. This rendition would not convey to the reader how significant the tree was to her in
her life and in her memories of her siblings. Again, we understand this importance of the tree
and her loss as one entity. The tree is so important to her because she connects it with her
siblings that have passed. It becomes a way to hold on to her memories of them.
Our Casuarina Tree Analysis by Toru Dutt
Analysis of Our Casuarina Tree by Toru Dutt

Our Casuarina Tree is a poem by Toru Dutt which is about the Casuarina tree that grew in the
poetess’ courtyard and her memories associated with it.

Summary

The poetess writes this in reminiscence of the Casuarina tree that grew in the courtyard of her
childhood home. The poem opens with a description of the tree, tall enough to make it seem
like it touches the stars, strong enough to continue growing despite scars on its trunk and
despite all this it provides support to a creeper. And yet she gives it the air of a Gentleman
when she describes how the tree is forever adorned with flowers and birds and bees. Thus we
see the tree in her childhood was not only as a paragon of strength, but gentle and loved by
the birds and bees.

She goes on to tell us about the mornings in her childhood when she would wake up to the
sight of the Casuarina Tree. Come summer or winter, her morning would remain incomplete
without the sight of the Casuarina tree, often with a baboon sitting on its crest. She then
paints a serene picture of the morning with the kokilas singing, the cows on the pasture and
the water lilies in the spring. However, the figure of the Casuarina tree stands central in this
picture, as it does in the morning and even in the life of the poetess.

In the third stanza the poetess tells us why she holds the Casuarina tree dear. It is not just the
magnificence of the tree that drew her to it, but there was an emotional bond to the tree as
well. It was under the shade of the tree that she and her friends played as children. Whenever
she saw the Casuarina tree she was reminded of her childhood and the time she spent with her
friends. She held her childhood friends in great regard and the tree was a symbol of the
experiences they had. It was for this very reason that she loved the Casuarina tree and would
remember her friends whenever she thought of it.

The poetess, in the fourth stanza, also talks of how the “lament” of the tree can be heard by
her even when she is far away, off the coasts of France and Italy. She hears this song
whenever she’s near the coasts, strolling under the moonlight, and is reminded of the
Casuarina tree. We may infer that in her moments of peace and calm her memory jogs back
to her childhood which is inextricably linked with the Casuarina tree and she draws up a
mental image of the tree as it existed in its prime, in her childhood. Here we can see that the
Casuarina tree is not only an integral part of her childhood and a symbol of her friendship
with her childhood friends, it is the only thing which has remained static. Each and every one
of her friends has moved on, including her, yet the Casuarina tree remains as it is. It is the
only thing that stands as a monument to their friendship.

Therefore, in the last stanza she says she would gladly create a monument in the honour of
the tree, for that is how much the tree is beloved to her. She also wishes that the tree grow for
years to come and be counted in the list of the deathless trees of Borrowdale, which sheltered
death and even time. She finally wishes that her love become so strong that it saves the
Casuarina tree from its demise.
This poem consists of five stanzas of eleven lines each. The rhyme scheme is abba. The
poem, though written in 1881, it is written in plain English and is easy to understand.

Title

The title of the poem, i.e., Our Casuarina Tree refers to the Casuarina tree that grew in the
garden of the poetess.

Setting

The poem is set when the poetess is abroad somewhere on the coast of France or Italy and is
reminiscing about her childhood spent in her garden, under the Casuarina tree, playing with
her friends.

Tone

The tone in the poem is one of remembrance. The poetess remembers her childhood spent
underneath the shade of the Casuarina tree as she played with her friends. She misses her
friends and misses the tree and her home where she grew up.

Theme

The theme of “Our Casuarina Tree” is about lasting friendships. While on the surface it
seems like the poem is only about the Casuarina tree, it is more about her friendship with her
childhood friends which she dearly misses. The Casuarina tree is a symbol of their friendship
and thus she writes an ode to it.

Symbolism

The title of the poem is “Our Casuarina Tree”. The Casuarina tree here is symbolic. It was the
tree under which the poetess and her friends played in their childhood. Thus it holds a special
place in the poetess’ heart. Even when all of them went their separate ways, the Casuarina
tree stayed as it was. It became the symbol of their everlasting friendship and thus became
dearer in the eyes of the poetess.