TheTr

ees
byAdr
ienneRi
ch
Int
roduc
tio
ntot
hel
ess
on
Thepoem hasasymbol
icmeani
ng,t
hetre
esareane
xte
ndedmetaphorf
orwome
n.Thepo
etsayst
hat
thewomenhaverest
ed,heal
edandrec
overe
dandarer
eadyfo
rt hei
rpri
mar
ypurpo
se-tor
enewthe
empt
yf o
restofmanki
nd.
STANZA1
Thet
ree
sins
ide… bymo
rni
ng.
Thepo e
ts aysthatt hetreesaremo vi
ngo utoftheconf
inesoftheho uses
,intotheo penf or
est.Thisis
unrealli
sti
cast r
eesar eimmove ableandhe nce,wereal
izethatthepo em hasas ymbo li
cme aning.We
i
nterpr e
tt hatt r
e e
sr ef
ertof emal eswhohavehe ale
dt he
ms el
vesandar er e
adyt omo veo uto ft hei
r
home s,int
ot hef or
eststofulf
ilt hei
rprimarypurpo
seoffil
l
ingthewo rl
dwi t
hmank ind.Fur thersheadds
thatt heforesthasbe enemptyf o rthepastmanydaysands o,nobirdscanbes eenast he ydono thave
anyt reestos i
to n,oninsec
tsc anb es e
e nastheydonothaveanys helt
erandt heSunlightc anno tform
anys hadows .Thef or
estofhumani tyhasr emai
nedemptyformanydaysbutwi l
lsoonbef ullandbr i
ght.
Li
teraryDe vice
s:
Personif
icat
ion:Sunbur yit’
sfeet
.Sunhasbe enpers
onifi
ed.
Enjambme nt:Continuati
onofasentenc
et othenex
tline(thefor
estthatwas…… tr
eesbymo
rni
ng)
.
Anapho r
a:2l i
nesbe ginwit
h‘no’
i
mag ery:“Thet re
esi nsi
dearemovi
ngo uti
ntothefores
t”-s ho
wsk i
nestat
ici
mag
ery
STANZA2
Al
lni
ghtt
her
oot
s….c
li
nicdo
ors
.
Diseng age:r emove
Strain:pr essure
Twigs :s mallstem
Exertio n:effort
Crampe d:r es
trict
ed
Boug hs:br anch
Shuf fli
ng :mixing
Dischar ged:se ndout
Daze d:s t
un
Thepoetexplainsthes t
rug gl
edo nebyt hepl antst oreachthef o
rest.Shes ayst hattheroot
swo rk
edfor
thewho l
enig httos e
par atethe mse
lve sf romt heve randafloor.Thel eavest r
iedhardt oreachthe
windowofg l
as ssothatt heyc o
uldg oo ut si
de .Eve nthesmallstemso fthet re
esputmuc hofthei
reffo
rt
i
no rdertose tthems el
vesf ree
.Theb igbr anc heswe realsotryi
ngal ottog oo utf ro
mt heroofofthe
room.Wec ans ayt hatwo me narede spe ratef orac hangeandt heiref f
ortisc o
mpar edtothatmadeb y
apat i
entwhohasbe enr el
easedf r
omt heho s
pitalandhet r
iestomo veo utinahur ryal
thoughheis
confus
ed.Mayb ebecauset heyar ehalfc onsciousandar eunde rthei nfl
uenceo fs o
meme dic
atio
n,they
areunste
adybuti nahur ryt oleavethec li
nic.
Li
ter
aryDe
vic
es:
Enj
ambme
nt:c
ont
inuat
iono
fse
nte
ncet
othene
xtl
i
ne(
thel
eave
sst
rai
n…….Hal
fdaze
d)
Si
mil
e:t
ree
sco
mpar
edt
opat
ient
s(l
i
kene
wlydi
schar
gedpat
ient
s)
pe
rso
nif
icat
ion:t
wig
sandb
oug
hshaveb
eenpe
rso
nif
ied.

1
STANZA3
Is
iti
nsi
de,….vo
icei
ntot
her
ooms
Sc
arc
ely:b
are
ly
De
par
tur
e:l
eavi
ng
Li
che
n:c
rus
typat
che
sofbus
heso
ffung
usandal
gaeo
ntr
eet
runk
s,havi
ngadi
sti
ncts
mel
l
Thepoetsaysthats hei
ss i
tti
nginhe rver
anda,wr i
ti
nglongle
tte
rs.Shedoesnotmenti
onaboutthe
tr
eesle
avi
nghe rho usei
nhe rlett
ers
.Shes aysthattheni
g hti
sverycle
ar.Shecanseethecompl
ete
moonwhic
hi sshi
ning.Thesme l
lofleavesandliche
nsisli
keavo i
cewhichisyel
l
ingande x
pre
ssi
nga
desi
ref
orfreedomfr omtheconf
inesofthehouse
.
Li
ter
aryDe
vic
es:
Al
l
ite
rat
ion:‘
longl
ett
ers
’fo
res
tfr
om’‘
skys
til
l
’‘l
eave
sandl
i
che
n’
Enj
ambme
nt:c
ont
inuat
iono
fse
nte
ncet
othene
xtl
i
ne(
doo
rso
pen….
theho
use
)
Image
ry:thepoe
thastr
iedtocr
eat
eas
cenei
nwhi
chs
hei
sob
ser
vingal
lthet
hing
shappe
ning(
the
ni
ghti
sfre
s h……i
ntot
heroo
ms)

STANZA4
Myhe
adi
sful
l….t
all
esto
ak.
Whi
spe
rs:mur
mur
St
umbl
i
ng:t
ripo
ver
Fl
ash:g
lar
e,s
hine
Oak
:Al
arg
e,s
tro
ngt
reeg
ene
ral
l
yus
edf
ormak
ingf
urni
tur
e
He rhe adisf
ulloft heslows o
undsmadeb ythet reeswhicharede s
pe r
atetomoveout
.Thesesounds
willnotbeheardt henextday.Thepo etasksther eadertoli
stencareful
lyasachang
eisabouttotake
place.Shehearstheg l
asswindowbr e
akingandt het r
eesstumbleoutintotheni
ght
.Thewindisbl
owing
outside.Itmeetsthet r
ees.Themoo nisli
keami r
rorandi tappearstohavebeenbro
kenint
opiecesas
thes hadowoftheo aktreedivi
desthemo onint
omanyf rag
me nts
.
Li
ter
aryde
vic
es:
Si
mil
e:Themo
oni
sco
mpar
edt
oami
rro
r(Mo
oni
sbr
oke
nli
keami
rro
r)
 

Que
sti
onandAns
wer
s
Q1
-(1
)Fi
nd,i
nthef
irs
tst
anza,t
hre
ethi
ngst
hatc
anno
thappe
ninat
ree
les
sfo
res
t?
Ans
:Thet
hre
ethi
ngsme
nti
one
dint
hef
irs
tst
anzat
hatc
anno
thappe
ninat
ree
les
sfo
res
tar
e:

i
. Bir
dss i
tti
ngont hetr
eebranche
s.
ii
. Thehidi
ngo fins
e c
tsinthebr
anchesoft
rees
i
ii
. Thesunbur yi
ngitsfe
e ti
ntheshadowofthetr
eesi
nthef
ore
st.

2
 (
2)Whatpi
ctur
edothes
ewo r
dscr
eat
einyo
urmi
nd:“… s
unbur
yit
sfe
eti
nshado
w…”?Whatc
oul
d
t
hepo
etmeanbythes
un’s‘
feet
?’
Ans:Thesun’
sfee
taretheraysofs
unt
hatr
eac
hthee
art
haf
terf
all
i
ngo
nthel
eave
soft
het
ree
sand
fi
nall
y,re
achtheear
th’
ssur
face.
Q2-(
1)Whe
rear
ethet
ree
sint
hepo
em?Whatdot
hei
rro
ots
,the
irl
eave
s,andt
hei
rtwi
gsdo
?
Ans
:Thetreesar
ei nthepoet
’sho us
e.Theroot
sareworki
nghardtoremovethemse
lve
sf r
omthecrac
ks
ofver
anda.Theleavesaremakingane ffo
rttoreac
ht o
war dst
heglassino
r dert
oc omeoutandthe
twi
gsaremaki
ngattemptstosetthemsel
vesfr
eeandreachthefor
est
.
(
2)Whatdo
est
hepo
etc
ompar
ethe
irbr
anc
hest
o?
Ans:Thepoetusesthewo r
dl ongc
rampedfort
heb
ranc
hes
.Shesaysthatt
hebranc
hesar
et r
yinghard
tocomeouto ftheroof
.Shet hencompar
est
hemwi
thnewl
ydis
char
gedpati
ent
swhoaretryi
ngt omove
outinthe
irhalfcons
cio
usness
.
Q3-(1)Howdoesthepoetdes
cri
bet
hemo
on:(
a)att
hebe
ginni
ngo
fthet
hir
dst
anza,and(
b)ati
ts
end?Whatcaus
est
hischang
e?
Ans:Thepo etdes
cribesthemoonasaf ullmooni
nt hebeginningoft hethir
ds tanzabutattheendof
thes t
anza,shedesc
r i
besittob
ebr o
kenintopi
eces
.Thec hangeint hemo onisbecauseofthetr
ees
.The
treesthatearl
i
erwer einthepoet
’shous
ehaveno wr e
achedt heforest.Thei
rlongbranche
shavecasta
shadowo ntheful
lmo onandnowitappearstobebrokeni
ntopi ece
sl i
keami rr
or.
 
(
2)Whathappe
nst
otheho
usewhe
nthet
ree
smo
veo
uto
fit
?
Ans:
 Thehous
ebeco
me ssi
l
entasthef
rag
ranc
eoft
hel
eave
sandl
i
che
nswhi
chwasl
i
keavo
iceur
ging
forachang
ecannolong
erbesme
lt.
(
3)Whydoyo uthi
nkthepoetdo
esnotment
ion“thedepart
ureofthef o
restfromthehous
e”inher
l
ett
ers
?( Co
ulditbethatweareoft
ensi
le
ntaboutimpo
rtanthappe
ning
st hataresounex
pecte
dthat
t
heyembarr
assus?Thi
nkabo
utthi
sagai
nwhenyouanswerthenextsetofquest
ions
.)?
Ans:Thepoetdidnotmenti
onthedepart
ureofthefor
estfr
omhe rhous
ebe c
auseitisapartofhuman
nat
ur etoig
noretheimport
antmatt
e r
so fthe
irli
fe.Weallkno
wt hattreesaresoimport
antforour
sur
vivalonear
th.Butst
il
lhumanbei
ngsarecutti
ngthe
mf o
rmakingprof
itswit
houteventhi
nki
ngofthe
aft
ermath.
 
Q4-Nowthatyouhavere
adthepoemindetai
l
,wec
anbe
gint
oas
kwhatt
hepo
em mi
ghtme
an.He
re
ar
etwosug
gest
ions
.Canyout
hinko
fother
s?

 Do
est
hepo
em pr
ese
ntac
onf
li
ctbe
twe
enmanandnat
ure
?Co
mpar
eitwi
thATi
geri
nthezo
o.Ist
he
po
etsug
gesti
ngthatpl
ant
sandtree
s,use
dfo
r‘i
nte
rio
rde
cor
ati
on’i
nci
ti
eswhi
l
efo
res
tsar
ecutdo
wn,
ar
e’i
mpri
soned’andne
edto‘br
eakout
’?

Ans:Yes,thepo empresentsac onfl

ic
tbe t
we enmanandnat ur
e .Mani scausi
ngdeforest
ationbyc utt
ing
downt het r
eesf orhiso wnus e.Ont heo therhand,hede corateshishousewitht het re
es.Wear e
damag i
ngoure nvi
ronmentwi thouteventhinkingabouttheendr e
sult
s.Byc l
ear
ingupt hef ore
sts,we
areendangeri
ngo ursel
ves.Soi swiththeani malstoo.Wear er ui
ningthei
rnaturalhabitatandk i
ll
ing
themf orourfuno rf o
odb uto ntheotherhand,wear ekeepingthemi nthecageso nthepr et
e x
to f
saf
e g
uardi
ngt hem bymak i
ngs anc
tuari
esandzo os
.So ,i
tist r
uet hatwear einadi rectconfl
ic
twi th
natureandmak i
ngt heotherli
vingbeing
spr i
soners
,beitthetree sorani
mals
.

 Ont
heo
the
rhand,Adr
ienneRi
chhasbe
enk
nownt
ous
etr
eesasame
tapho
rfo
rhumanbe
ing
s;t
hisi
sa
r
ecur
renti
mag
einhe
rpo
etr
y.Whatne
w me
ani
ngse
mer
gef
romt
hepo
emi
fyo
utak
eit
str
eest
obe
3
s
ymbo
li
coft
hispar
tic
ularme
ani
ng?

Ans:Iftre
esar etobet akenasas ymbolforhumanbe ings
,t hent hepoem wi
lldefi
net heeff
ortsof
humanstofreethemsel
vesfromt hec l
utc
heso fthede si
retoac hie
vee ver
ythi
ng.Allthehumanbe i
ngs
areunderac o
nstantpress
ureofb eingatt hetopine veryfie
ld.Ei the
rtheyaref or
cedbyt hei
ro wn
desi
reofdoi
ngs oorther
eisac onstantpeerpres
sureont hem.So ,thehumanb ei
ngswills
e tt
hemsel
ves
fre
ef r
omthisraceandtrytoli
veahappyandpe acefulli
fe.