The Trees

The trees inside are moving out into the forest, PLEASE LINK THE STORY OF SHAKESPEARE’S
MACBETH

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.

All night the roots work

to disengage themselves from the cracks

in the veranda floor.

The leaves strain toward the glass

small twigs stiff with exertion

long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof

like newly discharged patients

half-dazed, moving

to the clinic doors.

I 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.

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.

Analysis of The Trees

The Trees is a curious poem which demands several read throughs before the reader can fully grasp
what is happening with both form and content. The varying line length, unusual syntax and powerful
imagery needs careful handling.
Although enjambment is used throughout to convey a sense of flow and maintain sense, there are
certain lines that cause hesitation for the reader because of the need for a natural break or pause
(caesura). This adds to a feeling of slight unease which enhances the idea that this movement of
trees is anything but natural.

Since when have trees moved of their own accord? Only in fairy tales, only in the imagination. But
here they are, breaking out of their interior, be it house, conservatory, greenhouse, covered veranda
- they're shifting away from domestic confines and out into the forest. This is a highly significant
change.

 Why so significant? Well, trees normally make up the forest but until now it's been empty - for
many days and nights. This is symbolic of certain types of people being left in the dark for too
long not knowing their true identities and where they belong.
 Knowing the poet's feminist leanings and yearnings it is safe to suggest that the forest is the
forest of womanhood.
 The new forest will take shape very quickly, overnight says the speaker, pointing towards a sort
of sea change in identity, a collective identity.
All of this action is taking place at night - the change is profound, of roots and all, the whole tree -
note the imagery and sense of physical movement in the second stanza :

work/disengage/strain/stiff/shuffling/moving

and the extra clue in line 14 gives the reader more clarity, that simile like newly discharged patients
surely suggesting that the trees were sick or unhappy, in need of medical help and healing, but now
they're healed and free to go and live their lives.
The third stanza introduces the speaker for real, in first person. Here is a woman, the reader must
presume, writing long letters (to whom?) and remaining aloof from all this tree action. She doesn't
bother to mention the quiet revolution, or rather, she scarcely mentions it - which means she does
acknowledge it but isn't that surprised by it?
She has seen it coming perhaps, she has known for quite some time that the trees would one day
break out. As this exodus takes place she can still smell the remains of the trees - like a voice - that
turns into whispers in her own head? The whispers are the last messages of her old life, soon to be
renewed.
In the final stanza the speaker exhorts the reader to listen. She wants attention. Glass is breaking, a
sure sign that this change is serious and permanent; there may be damage done.
And then the imagery completely takes over, the poem becoming cinematic as the moon, that
symbol of femininity, emotion and physical change, breaks like a mirror (another symbol of the
reflected former self) the fragmented image lighting up the tallest tree, an oak, the strongest, most
durable of trees.

More Analysis of The Trees

The Trees is a free verse poem of 4 stanzas, making a total of 32 lines. There is no set rhyme
scheme and no regular metric beat pattern - each line is different rhythmically - and the lines vary
from short to long.

So the poem begins with a description of the actions of the trees as they start to move out at night.
This is quite an objective view of the scene, the first two stanzas going into lots of objective detail.

 Repetition(anaphora) occurs in the first stanza...the forest that was empty ...reinforcing the
idea that previously there was no life outside. Take note also of - where no bird/no insect/no
sun.
 Similes, in the second, third and final stanza involve both human and domestic elements - like
newly discharged patients/like a voice/like a mirror.
 Personification is to be found in the first stanza - no sun bury its feet in shadow...and the
second - small twigs stiff with exertion/long-cramped boughs shuffling....and the fourth stanza -
The trees are stumbling forward
Syntax

Syntax is the way the sentences, clauses and grammar work together and in this poem there is an
uncertainty as the poem progresses. Some lines end without punctuation - but no enjambment is in
evidence, suggesting the reader is free to carry on regardless or, treat the line ending as a natural
caesura (pause).
The first stanza for example is a single sentence with just one comma at the end of the first line and
a full stop at the end of the seventh. In between is chaos, a quite deliberate ploy by the poet to instil
a free if disturbing flow line to line.
The second stanza is two complete sentences, one short, the other long. The first three lines use
enjambment (sense is continued on into the next line) but the next several are a mix and require the
reader to affirm a natural caesura (pause) between lines 4/5 and 6/7.

The third stanza is made up of three sentences and is the only stanza with the true personal voice
of the speaker.
Finally the fourth stanza urges the reader to listen as the trees break out of their prison. Five
sentences of varying length are contained, which means more pausing for the reader, increasing the
drama.