[Raintree 8] ON KILLING A TREE POEM

 ON KILLING A TREE POEM

Learning Outcomes

● To infer that trees have a life too

● To note the tone and mood of the poem

● To recognise the use of personification to highlight the plight of a tree


READING

Students read to comprehend, scan for details and

interpret

Read the poem /Play the audio track.

Now let students read each stanza. Check

comprehension / discuss the text after each stanza.

Stanza 1

The stanza begins on a bitter note with the speaker

telling that it takes a long time to kill a tree. The

tree has grown this big over the years after taking

its nourishment from the earth. So, a jab of a knife

is not enough. The tree has risen to its present state

after taking in air, water and sunlight. It stands tall

and strong with leaves growing out of its rough

and scaly branches. The poet mocks at Man’s

cruelty by expressing the procedure of chopping

down a tree, with sarcasm.

The poet compares the life of a tree to humans

by implying that just like we go through various

stages in life from childhood to adulthood, the tree

also takes years of nourishment to grow.

Ask students:

What is the speaker trying to convey? (that it is

wrong to chop down a tree) Why has he used words

like ‘knife and ‘jab’? (as it is akin to murder/taking a

life) What is the tone of the poem? (sad) Identify the

metaphor in the stanza. (Its scaly bark is compared

to a leprous hide.) How has the tree grown? Does

it take long for a tree to grow this big? How does

the speaker compare the life of a tree to its dying?

(Killing it is not as easy as one would think, just as

its development to its present state has not been

easy)

Stanza 2

The tree is personified as a breathing living

creature. The poet translates its chopping to a

painful experience, highlighting the suffering the

tree would endure when its trunk is cut off. The

‘bleeding bark’ — the part where it has been cut—

will heal with time. Does the tree die at this? No.

The stub will sprout tender leaves and spring back

to life.

Ask students:

What is the literary device used in the stanza?

(Personification). What are the words used to

highlight personification? How does imagery play a

part in portraying a vivid picture? (use of words like

‘bleeding bark’, to portray a butchered trunk; ‘curled

green twigs’ and ‘miniature boughs’ to portray

tender shoots)

Stanza 3

The poet says that to kill a tree its root has to be

pulled out. The wet root, which is the very source

of a tree’s life, must be exposed by pulling it out

of the earth where it had anchored itself, in order

to mortally harm the tree. The exposed life source,

which when left open to the sun and air, will get

scorched due to the heat. Slowly, it will start to dry

up and wither, turning brown in the process, fading

into a hard, lifeless reminder of its original self — a

corpse where once a living tree used to be.

Theme:

Man’s cruelty to nature exposed through

destruction of trees. 

Literary devices

Mood: dismal

Tone: sarcastic/bitter

Personification: The tree is given human traits

Metaphor: leprous hide; bleeding bark;

Alliteration: It takes much time to kill a tree;

bleeding bark; white and wet

Imagery: consuming the earth; leprous hide;

bleeding bark; curled green twigs; miniature

boughs; anchoring earth; white and wet…

Summary: On Killing a Tree

The general theme of the poem is man’s cruelty to nature and the destruction

of trees. This poem is about the killing of a tree that stands tall on the earth

and has grown from its crust by absorbing water and nutrients from the soil

for many years. It has also taken years of sunlight and oxygen to grow. The

speaker says that merely hacking and chopping it is not enough to kill it, as a

tree is resilient and the bark will soon heal itself and new twigs grow, which if

allowed to thrive, will soon grow to their former size. The resilience of trees is

contrasted with the enormous effort that humans have to put in to cut down a

tree. To kill a tree, it has to be uprooted completely, as the root is the strength

of the tree and anchors it to the earth. Thus, only uprooting it can destroy the

very essence or soul of the tree. The painful last stages before the death of the

tree when the roots are pulled out, leading to its browning, withering and

finally death, are described with extreme vividness.

Gieve Patel portrays the destruction of trees in a powerful manner throughout

the poem. The poet uses irony to explain how each tree, which takes years to

grow, has to be uprooted from its source for it to be killed. The tree grows by

absorbing years of sunlight, air and water and it cannot die by merely hacking

and chopping at it as its source of strength lies in the roots. The poet makes

readers reflect on the cutting down of trees by likening the act of cutting tree

to murder and also by highlighting the painful end.

POEM: ON KILLING A TREE

Comprehension

A. 1. consuming the earth, rising, feeding, absorbing, sprouting leaves

2. The wound made on the bark of the tree trunk gradually heals. Soon, close to the ground little

green twigs and tiny branches begin to grow, which, if left unhindered, soon grow to their former

size.

3. The tree can be killed only by uprooting. The roots, which anchor it to the soil, need to pulled out

from the shelter of the earth. But it is not an easy task. The tree needs to be roped, tied and pulled

out completely from the earth such that the source of its sustenance is laid bare in the scorching

heat of the sun

4. When the tree is uprooted, it loses its source of sustenance. The water and minerals that nourished

it are unavailable. The white and wet root, which was sheltered underground and had anchored

the tree to the earth, dries up and withers away in the scorching heat of the sun.

5. The use of powerful words like scorching, choking, twisting and withering highlight the

helplessness and agony of the tree. It almost shows the tree suffering and writhing in pain as life

slowly goes out of it.

B. 1. a. ‘This’ refers to hacking and chopping the tree with an axe.

 b. It will not ‘do’ because a tree is strong and hardy and it can withstand such pain. It will soon heal

itself and grow back to its former size and strength.

 c. It shows that the speaker mocks the person trying to kill the tree and admires the tree’s

strength to overcome the pain.

2. a. The root of the tree is being pulled out ruthlessly. The tree is to be roped, tied and pulled out.

 b. The uprooted tree loses its source of sustenance as the roots wither and brown in the scorching

sun. This leads to the gradual death of the tree.

 c. It needs to be ‘pulled out’ because over the years, as it has grown, its roots have gone deep

inside the earth to anchor the tree firmly to the earth. So, a great deal of effort is required to

pull it out.

C. The action words used by the poet, like consuming, rising, feeding, absorbing, choking, twisting,

withering attribute it with human qualities both when it is said to be growing as well as when it is

said to be dying.

A. Answer in brief.

Why does it a take a long time to pull out a tree?

 Ans: A tree becomes very strong after its full growth. It takes years for a tree to get its full height and

strength . It slowly grows consuming required nutrients from earth , absorbing sunlight for years,

taking water from rains and other forms and gets its full shape. Naturally it is not that easy to destroy

such a well grown ,healthy tree.

B. Answer in detail.

What effort should be taken to uproot a tree completely?

 Ans: The tree is so strong that it is not easy to uproot a tree. It is not enough if you just use a knife to

give a blow and take its life. It is not enough if it is hacked and chopped . One has to induce much

more pain to the tree so that it would fall helplessly . The tree is anchored in the earth and it has to

be pulled out with great force and should be removed from the earth fully so that it does not expand

again to its former size. One has to pull out the most sensitive hidden source of the tree which is

buried inside the earth for years. That’s when one can be assured that the tree is gone forever.

C. Read the lines and answer the questions.

1. Miniature boughs

 Which if unchecked will expand again

 To former size.

 a. When do you see miniature boughs?

 b. What is its former size?

 c. Why does one have to check it?

 Ans: a. The miniature boughs appear when one doesn’t uproot the tree fully. The injured bark

will heal and grow again.

 b. The former size referred here is to a full grown tree.

 c. If one’s purpose is to uproot a tree fully for whatever reason , it has to be done such that

it does not grow again. Hence it is important that one keeps a check on that.

2. The source, white and wet,

 The most sensitive, hidden

 For years inside the earth.

 a. What is the ‘source’ mentioned in the above lines?

 b. Why is it hidden inside the earth?

 c. When can it be seen?

 Ans: a. The source mentioned in the above lines is the root of the tree.

 b. Roots cannot be seen above the earth. They are always hidden beneath.

 c. One can see the root of any tree only when it is uprooted due to natural reasons or

forcibly taken out.

D. Answer in detail. (Think and answer)

What is the feeling you are left with at the end of the poem ‘On Killing a Tree’?

 [Free response] Suggested Ans: The poet has brought out the cruelty of deforestation and the

destruction of nature for commercial purposes. Man has become so selfish and money-minded that

he has totally forgotten that it is his responsibility to protect nature and save our earth from natural

calamities. The way the poet has brought out the cruelty involved in killing a tree is very disturbing

and at the end of the poem we are left with a feeling of sadness and pain. We almost feel the pain the

tree must have felt while it was being cut.