Manav Rachna International School

Sector- 51,Gurugram
Academic Year: 2023-24
Name:
Subject: ENGLISH NOTES-On Killing a Tree
Grade: IX Date:

ON KILLING A TREE

Introduction of Poem- On Killing A Tree

The poem talks about the act of cutting down a tree. The poet says that it is not an easy task. A simple jab of
the knife cannot wipe out the existence of a tree. To actually kill a tree, we need to make much more effort.
Similarly, it is not easy to kill the human soul.

On Killing A Tree - Explanation

It is not easy to kill a deep-rooted tree. It takes much time to kill it. A simple jab of knife cannot kill a tree. It
is firmly held by the earth and its roots are safe under the ground. It is too strong to be killed by a simple
attack of a knife. The tree has grown to its full size by consuming the earth, feeding upon its crust absorbing
years of sunlight, air and water.

And even though the bark looks irregular and scaly, leaves and branches sprout of it. When a tree is chopped,
the barks bleed. But they heal with time. New twigs grow again; boughs which are chopped off are replaced
by new boughs which grow into their former size once again. If one wants to kill a tree, its roots have to be
pulled out. The roots are the most sensitive parts of the tree.

They are the source of a tree’s life. They must be pulled out of its cave, in order to kill the tree. Once the
roots are pulled out and exposed to the sun and the air, they wither and the tree is finally killed. Poetic
Devices used in the poem: In this poem the poetic device used is Personification.

The poet speaks of trees as human beings, when he says that one cannot kill a tree with a jab of a knife or by
hacking it, like they would kill any human being. Rhyme scheme: There is no particular rhyme scheme
followed in this poem. The poem is divided into four stanzas. Each stanza comprises varying lines. So, the
poem is written in free verse.

Analysis of the poem

Patel’s ‘On Killing a Tree’ is a poem which presents a graphic picture of the total annihilation of a tree. In
the poem the tree symbolizes Nature. Modern man out of his indiscriminate greed and selfishness roots out
nature and its very spirit. Man’s greed is not quenched by the mere physical process of killing a tree. Man
realizes that it is not easy to kill a tree because it has grown slowly consuming the earth and absorbing water,
air and sunrise for years. The mere act of hacking and chopping is not sufficient to kill a tree. The tree
overcomes man’s onslaught by branching off small stems close to the ground and resumes life and grows
again.
Knowing a tree’s power to come to life again, man decides to pull out the root of the tree. Like a butcher, he
makes several cuts in the tree and cuts it down. He then cuts it into several convenient pieces. Still his greed
is not quenched. Man is determined not to allow Nature a second life. He makes a deep cavity on the earth

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 Manav Rachna International School
Sector- 51,Gurugram
Academic Year: 2023-24
Name:
Subject: ENGLISH NOTES-On Killing a Tree
Grade: IX Date:

and roots out the tree which uses anchored safety inside the earth. The earth has so far protected and fed the
tree like a mother. But, the cruel man uproots this safety. After pulling the tree down, the man further
subjects it to various processes of rendering it fit for commercial purposes. He further tortures the tree by
scorching and choking it in sun and air. He also subjects the tree to various methods such as browning and
hardening. With this, the total killing of the tree is complete. Man is ensured that the tree has no second life.
“And then it is done” says the speaker triumphantly.

The poet describes man’s cruelty to nature with bitter irony and detachment. But his own sympathy is with
Nature. The poem is a telling commentary on one of the major environmental issues that encounters modern
man.

The theme in Gieve Patel’s poem On Killing a Tree is the notion of a clash between two different attitudes,
saving and cutting a tree. The focus for this is environmental degradation. The poem is very short. But it
slashes out scar in our minds. The ravages of modern industrial society are represented by the woodcutter.
We think like of the cannibalizing its own guts and soon to destroy the living trees and home lives of our
mother earth It was such a human story. A similar process is going on in the countries in the world which are
being mined for profit. Patel launches into a tirade against the practice in his On Killing a Tree but in a tone
of irony.

Cutting of trees is not simply cutting the branches or cutting its stem. Here it is given a ceremonial entity.
The branches and leaves will grow again. We need to cut out the root and dry it in the sun so that it is
destroyed. Patel endorses that it will take too much time to kill a tree.

Woodcutter or simply the professional murderer of a tree may hack: cut or chop with repeated and regular
blows: and chop, but still this alone will not do the job. The tree does not seem to feel any kind of pain
because the bleeding bark seemed to heal all the time. The trunk of the tree from close to the ground will
produced curled green twigs that will rise from the miniature bows.

In contrast to this practice of ripping natural substances out of the ground, making them into something
unnatural, and then returning the waste products to the earth in an indigestible form—all in the name of
economic progress and profit— Patel presents the very different attitude that we have toward the earth. At
first the difference puzzles Patel. He asks us how it can be that cutting a tree has remained productive for
over a thousand years, but human civilization is pending destruction after only a period. The difference, as
Patel later learns, is that cutting a tree is no childish job- rather a heartless process of infanticide. Patel
endorses us to respect the earth as a living being and seek with humility to maintain the ecological balance
that the earth needs. We should acknowledge that we do not own the earth but try to be responsible guests.

What type of poem is ‘On killing a Tree’?

On Killing a Tree is a poem by the Indian poet Gieve Patel. It is a protest poem, written in stanzas of
irregular length. It does not use the traditional marks of poetry, such as rhyme, regular meter, or stanzas of
equal length. Instead, it is written in what we call free verse.

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 Manav Rachna International School
Sector- 51,Gurugram
Academic Year: 2023-24
Name:
Subject: ENGLISH NOTES-On Killing a Tree
Grade: IX Date:

How is the task of killing a tree represented in the poem?

In this poem, the poet symbolizes a deep-rooted evil. He says that a tree can't be killed just by hacking and
chopping it. To put it to a permanent end, it should be uprooted entirely and left out to wither in the sun. In
the same way, the social evil can't be put out just by criticizing them.
What is the irony of the poem ‘On killing a tree?
In the poem 'On Killing A Tree,' the poet Gieve Patel describes the cruelty of man
in killing the tree with irony and a sense of detachment. However, his own sympathy lies with the tree and
nature.

What is Patel's message in the poem?

Patel's poetry deals primarily with the gross inequalities of the social structures in India, the violence and
pain that continue to be a part of human existence, and in this particular poem, man's misconceptions with
regard to Nature.

POETIC DEVICES
Metaphor leprous hide

Alliteration bleeding bark, white and wet, anchoring earth

The source white and wet

Personification bleeding bark

Repetition the root is to be pulled out

And pulled out

Or pulled out entirely

Imagery Slowly consuming the earth rising out of it, feeding upon its crust
Note: The poem is a free verse hence it has no rhyming scheme.

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