On Killing a Tree

 

About the Poet: 

Gieve Patel was born in 1940. He is an Indian poet, playwright, painter, as well as a practicing physician. He belongs to a group of writers who have subscribed themselves to the 'Green Movement' which is involved in an effort to protect the environment. His poems speak of deep concerns for nature and expose man's cruelty to it.

Introduction: 

The poem, ‘On Killing a Tree’ is written by Gieve Patel. In this poem, the poet tells us that it is not easy to kill a tree. We cannot kill a tree by cutting it off. A tree can regrow itself. We have to pluck out its roots from the earth to kill it completely.

Meanings:

Jab: sudden rough blow

Leprous hide: discoloured bark

Hack: cut roughly by striking heavy blows

Anchoring earth:  earth holding the roots of the trees securely

Snapped out: chopped out, cut off

Scorching and choking: the drying up of the tree and after being uprooted as it is exposed to the sun without nutrients, water, air

Summary:

The poet tells us not to destroy trees. He says that a plant takes sunlight, air, water, and nutrients from the earth to gradually become a huge tree. It develops a strong trunk and gets numerous leaves. Merely cutting the trunk of the tree does not kill it. When a tree is cut, the sap flows out. Once the wound heals, new leaves and tiny branches grow and the tree grows again.

In order to destroy a tree, it has to be uprooted. The roots are very important for the trees. The roots are white in colour. They are damp due to the moisture they get from the soil. These roots are the most sensitive part of the tree as they bind it to the earth. In order to kill the tree, these roots have to be detached from the soil.

Once the roots are detached, the tree starts dying, it withers dries up with the action of heat and wind, twists, hardens and finally, dies.

Question and Answers

1. Can a “simple jab of the knife” kill a tree? Why not?

A. No, a simple jab of the knife cannot kill a tree. When cut the tree bleeds out sap and as the wound heals, new leaves and branches will grow from it. Again the tree starts growing.

2. How has the tree grown to its full size? List the words suggestive of its life and activity.

A. The tree has grown to its full size by consuming nutrients from the Earth, absorbing sunlight, air, and water. The words that suggest its life and activity are - consuming the earth, rising out of it, feeding upon its crust, absorbing years of sunlight, air, water.

3. What is the meaning of “bleeding bark”? What makes it bleed?

A. Bleeding bark refers to the oozing of sap. The sap flows out of the tree’s bark when it is cut. The tree bleeds when it is cut.

4. The poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza. What does he mean by this?

A. ’No’ means that the tree will not die by cutting or chopping its trunk.

5. What is the meaning of “anchoring earth” and “earth cave”?

A. “Anchoring Earth” means that the Earth supports the tree firmly. “Earth cave” refers to the pit in the Earth where the roots of the tree bind it firmly.

6. What does he mean by “the strength of the tree exposed”?

A. “the strength of the tree exposed” means that upon being uprooted, the most sensitive and important part of the tree i.e. its roots will no longer remain hidden in the Earth and supported by Earth.

7. What finally kills the tree?

A. The tree dies when it is uprooted. It will not get any support from Earth. When it is detached from the Earth, it withers, hardens twists, and finally dies.

Literary Devices

1. No rhyme scheme is there in the poem. It is written in free verse. There is no rhyme or rhythm.

2. Enjambment: When one sentence continues into two or more lines.

Not a simple jab of the knife

Will do it. It has grown

Slowly consuming the earth

 

Rising out of it, feeding

Upon its crust, absorbing

Years of sunlight, air, water,

And out of its leprous hide

Sprouting leaves.

 

The most sensitive, hidden

For years inside the earth.

 

3. Metaphor: indirect comparison

Leprous hide - the uneven colour of the surface of the trunk of a tree is compared to the skin of a person suffering from leprosy.

Bleeding bark - the sap coming out of tree where it is cut is compared to the bleeding from the wound in a human’s body.

4. Alliteration: repetition of a consonant sound in 2 or more closely places words.

Bleeding bark - ‘b’ sound

White and wet - ‘w’ sound

5. Repetition: a word or sentence is repeated to lay emphasis on it.

‘Pulled out’ is repeated