TREES
EXTRACT BASED QUESTIONS
1) All night the roots work
to disengage themselves from the cracks
on the veranda floor.
The leaves strain toward the glass
small twigs stiff with exertion
long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof
like newly discharged patients
half-dazed, moving
to the clinic doors.
Questions :
(a) What do the roots do all night?
(b) How are the small twigs?
(c) What are the boughs compared to?
(d) What do the leaves do?
(e) Name the poem and the poetess.
Answers :
(a) All night the roots work to free themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor.
(b) The small twigs are stiff and dry.
(c) The boughs are compared to newly discharged patients who are matured branches heading towards the clinic door.
(d) The leaves strain towards the glass.
(e) Here the poem is the Trees and the poetess is Adrienne Rich.
2) I sit inside, doors open to the veranda
writing long letters
in which I scarcely mention the departure
of the forest from the house.
The night is fresh, the whole moon shines
in a sky still open.
Questions :
(a) Where is the poetess sitting?
(b) What is the poetess doing?
(c) What does she not mention in her letters?
(d) How does the poetess describe the night and the moon?
(e) How is the sky?
Answers :
(a) The poetess is sitting in her room.
(b) The poetess is writing long letters.
(c) She does not mention the departure of the forest from the house.
(d) The night is pleasant and fresh. The full moon is shining bright.
(e) The sky is still open.
3) the smell of leaves and lichen
still reaches like a voice into the rooms.
My head is full of whispers
which tomorrow will be silent.
Questions :
(a) Where is the poetess sitting at present?
(b) Which smell is reaching her?
(c) What is her head full of?
(d) What will be silent tomorrow?
Answers :
(a) At present, the poetess is sitting in her room and looking at the veranda.
(b) The smell of leaves and lichen is reaching her,now but by tomorrow it will be gone.
(c) Her head is full of whispers,thoughts and ideas.
(d) Tomorrow, the whispers will be silent.
4) Listen. The glass is breaking.
The trees are stumbling forward
into the night Winds rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
of the tallest oak.
Questions :
(a) What is happening to the glass?
(b) What are the trees doing?
(c) Why does the wind rush?
(d) How does the poetess describe the moon?
Answers :
(a) The glass is breaking because of the force provided by the stems and leaves.
(b) The poetess says that the trees are stumbling forward into the night.
(c) The wind rushes out to meet the trees.
(d) The poetess says that the moon is like a broken mirror.
5) The trees inside are moving out into the forest,
The forest that was empty all these days
Where no bird could sit no insect hide no sun bury its feet in shadow the forest that was empty all these nights will be full of trees by morning.
Questions:
(a) Where are the trees moving out?
(b) What was the condition of the forest all those days?
(c) What is the effect of empty forest on birds, insects and the sun?
(d) What will happen by morning?
Answers:
(a) The trees are moving out of the artificial glasshouses and going to the forest.
(b) Of late, the forest has become empty without trees.
(c) Birds can’t perch, insects can’t hide themselves and the sun rays can’t find shade without trees in the forest.
(d) By morning, the forest will be full of trees.
6) All night the roots work to disengagethemselves from the cracks in the veranda floor.
The leaves strain toward the glass smalltwigs stiff with exertion long-crampedboughs shuffling under the roof like newly discharged patients half-dazed,moving to the clinic doors.
Questions:
(a) What are the roots doing all night?
(b) What are the leaves doing?
(c) What have small twigs become?
(d) What is the poetic device used in the last lines?
Answers:
(a) The roots have been struggling all night to come out from the cracks of the veranda floor.
(b) The leaves are struggling to move towards the glass to break open it.
(c) Small twigs have become hard with exertion.
(d) There is an effective use of simile when the shuffling cramped boughs are compared to the freshly discharged patients.
EXTRAPOLATIVE ANSWERS
1)What message does Adrienne Rich want to convey through her poem, The Trees’?
Ans. In her poem, ‘The Trees’ poetess Adrienne Rich subtly drives home the message about the importance of trees. Without trees, the birds would not in a place to sit, insects will have no place to hide and the sun would not bury its feet in shadow. As saplings, we enjoy the beauty of plants as they adorn the surroundings. But slowly the tree spreads its roots, its branches and leaves and seems to yearn to go outside where it can live and grow without any restrictions No more does the tree look attractive indoors. The trees are however welcomed into nature by strong winds and the moon. The author hereby emphasizes that trees need to be kept alive, but should not be ‘imprisoned’ inside the house as they look more beautiful, and tend to thrive outdoors that is where trees belong.
2) How does Adrienne Rich use trees as a metaphor for men? Isn’t the struggle of the trees to free themselves and go to the forest is the struggle of crushed men, particularly of women against the powerful and atrocious men?
Ans. The poet Adrienne Rich uses trees as a metaphor for men, particularly struggling women. Nature, itself is represented by trees and forests in the poem. Man’s foolish and atrocious attempts to exploit, subdue, tame and control nature, (metaphorically women) have led to disastrous results like deforestation. Forests have become empty. The futile attempt of humans to put trees and forests in the artificial glasshouses fails miserably. The trees, their roots, leaves, twigs and boughs wage a long and hard struggle to come out of the artificial barriers. Ultimately, the trees and forests reach where they should be. The victorious march of the trees to the forest tells the saga of nature’s victory over the onslaughts of man.
The liberation of the crushed and the women is based on the same theme. In a male-dominated society, women are struggling to come out of the clutches of men to gain freedom. They want to free themselves from the shackles of bondage with a hope that like the trees in the poem, they will be liberated in the end.
3) The poem ‘The Trees’ present a conflict between man and nature. Describe the struggle of the trees and their victorious march to their natural habitat—the forest.
Ans. The poem ‘The Trees’ is based on the universal and age-long theme — the conflict between man and nature. Nature has endowed innumerous blessings on man. However, the greed, arrogance and foolishness of man have constantly tested the patience of otherwise peaceful nature. When nature can’t bear any more, it revolts and causes havoc on man in the form of storms, droughts and floods. Man’s greed leads to deforestation. Forests without frees have become a curse for birds, insects and even for the sun. This disaster can’t be redeemed.
Any attempt to subdue and control nature will end in failure. Uprooting trees from their original habitat, the forests and confining them to artificial glasshouses will end in failure. The trees rise against the onslaughts of men and wage a long and hard struggle to liberate themselves from the bondage of man. Ultimately, they are victorious. They return to their original home where they should be. Ultimately, nature asserts itself and repulses man’s attempt to exploit, subdue and tame it.
4)What is the central idea of the poem ‘The Trees’?
The central idea of the poem is the conflict between man and nature. A plant is
brought inside the house when it is a sapling. But as it grows into a tree, it gets
suffocated with the limited space available. So it departs to feel free. The tree is
thus moving out to occupy the now empty forest, made so by man’s
indiscriminate felling of trees. Humans must understand the negative impact of
their actions on nature and mend their ways before it is too late.
EXTRACT BASED QUESTIONS
1) All night the roots work
to disengage themselves from the cracks
on the veranda floor.
The leaves strain toward the glass
small twigs stiff with exertion
long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof
like newly discharged patients
half-dazed, moving
to the clinic doors.
Questions :
(a) What do the roots do all night?
(b) How are the small twigs?
(c) What are the boughs compared to?
(d) What do the leaves do?
(e) Name the poem and the poetess.
Answers :
(a) All night the roots work to free themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor.
(b) The small twigs are stiff and dry.
(c) The boughs are compared to newly discharged patients who are matured branches heading towards the clinic door.
(d) The leaves strain towards the glass.
(e) Here the poem is the Trees and the poetess is Adrienne Rich.
2) I sit inside, doors open to the veranda
writing long letters
in which I scarcely mention the departure
of the forest from the house.
The night is fresh, the whole moon shines
in a sky still open.
Questions :
(a) Where is the poetess sitting?
(b) What is the poetess doing?
(c) What does she not mention in her letters?
(d) How does the poetess describe the night and the moon?
(e) How is the sky?
Answers :
(a) The poetess is sitting in her room.
(b) The poetess is writing long letters.
(c) She does not mention the departure of the forest from the house.
(d) The night is pleasant and fresh. The full moon is shining bright.
(e) The sky is still open.
3) the smell of leaves and lichen
still reaches like a voice into the rooms.
My head is full of whispers
which tomorrow will be silent.
Questions :
(a) Where is the poetess sitting at present?
(b) Which smell is reaching her?
(c) What is her head full of?
(d) What will be silent tomorrow?
Answers :
(a) At present, the poetess is sitting in her room and looking at the veranda.
(b) The smell of leaves and lichen is reaching her,now but by tomorrow it will be gone.
(c) Her head is full of whispers,thoughts and ideas.
(d) Tomorrow, the whispers will be silent.
4) Listen. The glass is breaking.
The trees are stumbling forward
into the night Winds rush to meet them.
The moon is broken like a mirror,
its pieces flash now in the crown
of the tallest oak.
Questions :
(a) What is happening to the glass?
(b) What are the trees doing?
(c) Why does the wind rush?
(d) How does the poetess describe the moon?
Answers :
(a) The glass is breaking because of the force provided by the stems and leaves.
(b) The poetess says that the trees are stumbling forward into the night.
(c) The wind rushes out to meet the trees.
(d) The poetess says that the moon is like a broken mirror.
5) The trees inside are moving out into the forest,
The forest that was empty all these days
Where no bird could sit no insect hide no sun bury its feet in shadow the forest that was empty all these nights will be full of trees by morning.
Questions:
(a) Where are the trees moving out?
(b) What was the condition of the forest all those days?
(c) What is the effect of empty forest on birds, insects and the sun?
(d) What will happen by morning?
Answers:
(a) The trees are moving out of the artificial glasshouses and going to the forest.
(b) Of late, the forest has become empty without trees.
(c) Birds can’t perch, insects can’t hide themselves and the sun rays can’t find shade without trees in the forest.
(d) By morning, the forest will be full of trees.
6) All night the roots work to disengagethemselves from the cracks in the veranda floor.
The leaves strain toward the glass smalltwigs stiff with exertion long-crampedboughs shuffling under the roof like newly discharged patients half-dazed,moving to the clinic doors.
Questions:
(a) What are the roots doing all night?
(b) What are the leaves doing?
(c) What have small twigs become?
(d) What is the poetic device used in the last lines?
Answers:
(a) The roots have been struggling all night to come out from the cracks of the veranda floor.
(b) The leaves are struggling to move towards the glass to break open it.
(c) Small twigs have become hard with exertion.
(d) There is an effective use of simile when the shuffling cramped boughs are compared to the freshly discharged patients.
EXTRAPOLATIVE ANSWERS
1)What message does Adrienne Rich want to convey through her poem, The Trees’?
Ans. In her poem, ‘The Trees’ poetess Adrienne Rich subtly drives home the message about the importance of trees. Without trees, the birds would not in a place to sit, insects will have no place to hide and the sun would not bury its feet in shadow. As saplings, we enjoy the beauty of plants as they adorn the surroundings. But slowly the tree spreads its roots, its branches and leaves and seems to yearn to go outside where it can live and grow without any restrictions No more does the tree look attractive indoors. The trees are however welcomed into nature by strong winds and the moon. The author hereby emphasizes that trees need to be kept alive, but should not be ‘imprisoned’ inside the house as they look more beautiful, and tend to thrive outdoors that is where trees belong.
2) How does Adrienne Rich use trees as a metaphor for men? Isn’t the struggle of the trees to free themselves and go to the forest is the struggle of crushed men, particularly of women against the powerful and atrocious men?
Ans. The poet Adrienne Rich uses trees as a metaphor for men, particularly struggling women. Nature, itself is represented by trees and forests in the poem. Man’s foolish and atrocious attempts to exploit, subdue, tame and control nature, (metaphorically women) have led to disastrous results like deforestation. Forests have become empty. The futile attempt of humans to put trees and forests in the artificial glasshouses fails miserably. The trees, their roots, leaves, twigs and boughs wage a long and hard struggle to come out of the artificial barriers. Ultimately, the trees and forests reach where they should be. The victorious march of the trees to the forest tells the saga of nature’s victory over the onslaughts of man.
The liberation of the crushed and the women is based on the same theme. In a male-dominated society, women are struggling to come out of the clutches of men to gain freedom. They want to free themselves from the shackles of bondage with a hope that like the trees in the poem, they will be liberated in the end.
3) The poem ‘The Trees’ present a conflict between man and nature. Describe the struggle of the trees and their victorious march to their natural habitat—the forest.
Ans. The poem ‘The Trees’ is based on the universal and age-long theme — the conflict between man and nature. Nature has endowed innumerous blessings on man. However, the greed, arrogance and foolishness of man have constantly tested the patience of otherwise peaceful nature. When nature can’t bear any more, it revolts and causes havoc on man in the form of storms, droughts and floods. Man’s greed leads to deforestation. Forests without frees have become a curse for birds, insects and even for the sun. This disaster can’t be redeemed.
Any attempt to subdue and control nature will end in failure. Uprooting trees from their original habitat, the forests and confining them to artificial glasshouses will end in failure. The trees rise against the onslaughts of men and wage a long and hard struggle to liberate themselves from the bondage of man. Ultimately, they are victorious. They return to their original home where they should be. Ultimately, nature asserts itself and repulses man’s attempt to exploit, subdue and tame it.
4)What is the central idea of the poem ‘The Trees’?
The central idea of the poem is the conflict between man and nature. A plant is
brought inside the house when it is a sapling. But as it grows into a tree, it gets
suffocated with the limited space available. So it departs to feel free. The tree is
thus moving out to occupy the now empty forest, made so by man’s
indiscriminate felling of trees. Humans must understand the negative impact of
their actions on nature and mend their ways before it is too late.
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