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
