The Heart of the Tree

Annotation 1

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

What does he plant who plants a tree?

He plants cool shade and tender rain,

1. Who is the poet asking the questions in the first line of the extract? List
any two things, according to the extract, that man will do by planting a
tree.
● the readers
● plant a friend of sun and sky
● plant the flag of breeze i.e leafy branches

2. In what ways are the trees friends of sun and sky? How can a man plant
the flag of breezes free?
● the poet feels that one day the tree will grow tall and be friend8s
with the sky and the sun.
● The tree depends on the sun to carry out the process of
photosynthesis. Similarly, the tree is a friend of the sky because it
takes in carbon dioxide from the air and releases oxygen in the air,
purifying the air in the process.
● trees are responsible for cloud formation in the sky before it rains;
the tree is a flag of free breeze for the leaves that just like flags
flutter freely in the breeze and provide soothing, cool breeze to us.

3. What is meant by ‘shaft of beauty’? What is compared to the shaft? ●

Shaft of beauty means beam of beauty
● The tree which grows high with its long narrow stem is compared
to the shaft

4. What is the impact of beginning the poem with a question? What is

known as mother-croon of bird? Why is the song sung in a hushed voice?
● creates curiosity and anxiety in the readers’ minds
● Mother-croon is the soft song that mother bird is singing to her
young ones.
 ● It is sung in a hushed voice because it is sung during twilight when
human activities are slowing down and an atmosphere of calmness
and serenity prevails.
5. Give four functions which a tree performs on this earth.
● A tree functions as a friend of sky and sun.
● It is the flag of breezes free.
● When we plant a tree o we make a home near heaven
o we provide shelter to the mother bird and the mother-croon is
heard in the twilight from the trees we plant

Annotation 2

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

He plants cool shade and ……..unborn eyes shall see.

1. Who is referred to as ‘he’? Pick out two phrases from the stanza that
denote future.
● the one who plants a tree
● bud of days to be
● harvest of a coming age

2. Enumerate any three benefits of planting trees as suggested by the poet in

this extract.
● The trees will grow tall and provide shade to the people ● they also bless
us with tender rains.
● they give us food
● will provide crops to the future generations.

3. How do the last two lines of the extract explain the process of
regeneration? How does the man plant the forest’s heritage?
● After many years the old trees will wither away and the seeds of the trees
will grow into new trees and into dense forest.
● This is symbolic of the process of birth, death and regeneration. In this
way, trees will make the plains beautiful.
● The forest will provide harvest to the future generations. Thus the
upcoming generations will reap all the benefits of the trees that are being
planted now.
 4. How do the trees provide for the harvest of the following years?
● Trees not only beautify environment, but purify the air and provide us
with wood, timber, fruits and medicines.
● The one who plants a tree, plants the entire forest.
● This forest is thus the harvest, the future generation can enjoy.
5. What does the expression, ‘unborn eyes’ refer to? What will they see?
Why will they rejoice?
● ‘Unborn eyes’ refers to the future generation.
● The unborn eyes shall see plants providing cools shade, blessing us with
tender rain, regeneration of trees, beautiful plains filled with numerous
trees, nature abundant with her numerous gifts like fruits, timber, etc.
● They will rejoice because the trees will provide them fresh and pure air,
numerous gifts like fruits, timber, tender rain, etc.
● The plants provide us with all essential nutrients for our body. They are
main source of medicine and wood.

Annotation 3

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

He plants, in sap and leaf………his heart who plants a tree.

1. What is meant by ‘far-cast thought of civic good’? In what

way is the planter’s work a blessing? State for whom it is
a blessing.

● Far-cast thought of civic good means foreseeing the well-being of the city
or its citizens.
● Planter’s work is a blessing because the human beings can get food from
the plant’s sap and leaves.
● Besides, he can get wood for his use.
● Tree plantation is indeed a blessing on the neighbourhood.

2. Give the meaning of the following: Who in the hollow of

His hand

Holds all the growth of all our land --

● The man’s hand holds the future progress of mankind.

● Our land will become Wood is a very important trade product and thus its
import and export within countries enriches the economy of a nation.

● The poet indirectly requests all human beings to plant trees for the well-
being of society and its citizens.
4. Comment on the appropriateness of the title of the poem, The Heart of the
Tree.

● The heart is one of the most important organs in the entire human body.
The human heart pumps the blood, which carries all the vital materials
and nutrients. Only when the heart pumps the blood, it is able to transport
oxygen from one part of the body to another.
● Likewise, a tree has certain qualities, which are as essential as human
heart, for survival. Trees absorb carbon dioxide and give out life-giving
oxygen for us to inhale; trees cause rainfall; trees are essential for the
future generation; trees like human heart provide us with ‘sap and leaf
and wood’, i.e., all the required minerals, nutrients and material things.