A hive

without bees

A river without What do you A class room

water call? without students

A forest without
trees
 Oral narration
Forest without trees… Can it be called a forest?
Trees are the essential part of the forest. (Importance of trees and their part in the
forest.)
Like without students, a classroom will be left with only lifeless infrastructure.
Similarly, without trees a forest will be lifeless and no life can survive. Where do all
the animals go? Where do they live?

For life to survive in a forest trees are the only essential things on which everything
else depends.

Likewise, on whom does all the world of people depend?

Expected response -woman.
As we can observe the vast majority of portions in the world are dominated by men.
So, do women stay in houses?
No, they cannot… nothing can stop them, nothing can confine them to the four walls
of the house, they push their way forward…
Trees always find their way to forest.
The Trees

Adrienne Rich
 What we learn today:

Theme of the Poem

The poem “The Trees” by Adrienne Rich is a metaphor which compares the trees to
women. The poet is a feminist and highlights the desire of women to be free and go
out in the open. The trees want to free themselves from the floor of the house and go
in the open forest. They are cramped in the houses and their feelings can be felt and
heard by the poet.

The poem has a symbolic meaning, the trees are an extended metaphor for
women. The poet says that the women have rested, healed and recovered and
are ready for their primary purpose – to renew the empty forest of
mankind.
 ADRIENNE RICH
Adrienne Rich was born in Baltimore, Maryland,
U.S.A. in 1929. She is the author of nearly twenty
volumes of poetry, and has been called a feminist
and a radical poet.

Feminist=a person who believes in bringing about the

equality of the women and men

Radical=reformer
The
Trees
Can there be a forest without trees?

A classroom without students…

River without water…

Home without a family…

Solar system without planets…

Hive without bees…

Where are the trees in this poem, and

where do they go?
Imprisonment/confinement

Struggle

Poet’s support to the struggle

Freedom gained
 Bury=hide

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.

What is the time in line six of stanza 1?

•What is the time in line seven of stanza
1?
•Where is the tree?
•Where are they moving out into?
•How was the forest?
•Are there birds and insects?
•Could sun find rest in the forest?
•What does this suggest?
All night the roots work
to disengage themselves from the cracks
in 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

Disengage themselves=to separate

themselves
Strain=make efforts to move
Twigs=small stem
Exertion=effort
Cramped=restricted
Boughs=branch
Half dazed=half conscious
Shuffling=moving repeatedly from one position
to another
Clinic doors=outside the doors
•Are trees sitting idle at night?
•Are they staying in the cracks in the veranda?
•Leaves are weak but are they not trying to break
the glass?
•How are the twigs?
•How were the boughs till then?
•What does all this suggest?
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
the smell of leaves and lichen
still reaches like a voice into the rooms

•Who is ‘I’ in the poem?

•Is she with the struggle of the trees or against it?
•What is she writing?
•What does scarcely mention mean in the line 3 of
3rd stanza?
•How is the moon in the sky?
•What is the smell of leaves and lichen compared
to?
My head is full of whispers
which tomorrow will be silent.
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

Whisper=murmer
Stumbling=to walk unsteadily

Today there are whispers in head how will be

tomorrow?
•What happens to the glass?
•Why are the trees stumbling forward?
 SUMMARY

The poet talks about trees symbolically. They refer to women

who have been healed and are ready to move out of their
houses to fulfil their primary purpose – to renew the forest of
mankind. As women have remained indoors, the forest has
become empty, the birds and insects rendered shelterless. The
Sun’s rays do not have the tree trucks and leaves to fall upon
and thus, reach the earth. She says that the forest will be full of
trees the next morning. The roots of the trees are working hard
to separate from the floor of the veranda where they have
remained fixed. The leaves and branches are moving towards
the glass windows. They are desperate to move out just like a
newly discharged patient who has not recovered completely,
moves to the exit door of the hospital in a hurry. The poet is
sitting in her house with the doors of the veranda open. She is
writing letters but does not mention this movement of the trees.
It is night time, the sky is clear and a bright moon is visible. She
can smell the leaves and lichen which seem to be calling out
desperately. She hears the glass of the window pane breaking.
The trees are moving out and the fast blowing wind embraces
them. As the trees have reached the forest, the tall and strong
oak tree overshadows the moon and it seems that the moon has
Poetic Devices in “The Trees” by Adrienne Rich

1. Personification
Definition: Giving human characteristics to non-human objects or abstract ideas.

Example: “The trees inside are moving out into the forest.” The trees are described as if
they have the ability to move on their own, which is a human characteristic.

2. Imagery
Definition: Descriptive language that appeals to the senses (sight, sound, smell, touch,
taste).

Example: “The night is fresh, the whole moon shines in a sky still open the smell of leaves
and lichen still reaches like a voice into the rooms.” This line creates vivid sensory images
of sight (moon shines), smell (smell of leaves and lichen), and sound (like a voice).

3. Simile
Definition: A comparison using “like” or “as”.
Example: “long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof like newly discharged patients
half-dazed, moving to the clinic doors.” The boughs are compared to patients who have
just been discharged from a clinic, emphasizing their struggle and effort.
4. Metaphor
Definition: A direct comparison between two unlike things without using “like” or “as”.

Example: “The moon is broken like a mirror, its pieces flash now in the crown of the tallest
oak.” The moon is metaphorically described as being broken like a mirror, creating a
striking visual image.

5. Alliteration
Definition: The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words.

Example: “small twigs stiff with exertion” The repetition of the ‘s’ sound in “small,” “stiff,”
and “exertion” creates a rhythmic effect.

6. Enjambment
Definition: The continuation of a sentence or clause over a line-break.
Example: “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
sentence flows over multiple lines without a pause, creating a sense of movement and
urgency.
7. Symbolism
Definition: Using symbols to signify ideas and qualities by giving them symbolic
meanings different from their literal sense.

Example: The trees symbolize freedom and the return to one’s natural state. The act of
the trees moving out into the forest symbolizes liberation and reclaiming one’s true self.

8. Repetition
Definition: Repeating words or phrases for emphasis.

Example: “the forest that was empty all these days… the forest that was empty all these
nights” The repetition of “the forest that was empty” emphasizes the lifelessness of the
forest before the trees return.

9. Hyperbole
Definition: Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally.
Example: “The moon is broken like a mirror” This is an exaggerated way to describe the
fragmented appearance of the moon’s reflection.
1. (i) Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest.
Answer 1 (i): In a treeless forest, the following three things cannot happen:

No bird could sit.

No insect could hide.
No sun could bury its feet in shadow.
1. (ii) What picture do these words create in your mind: “… sun bury its feet in shadow…”? What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet’?
Answer 1 (ii): The phrase “… sun bury its feet in shadow…” creates an image of the sun casting shadows on the ground, where its rays are
partially blocked by trees, creating a dappled effect. The poet might mean that the sun’s ‘feet’ are its rays, which touch the ground and create
shadows when obstructed by trees.

Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs do?
Answer 2 (i): In the poem, the trees are inside a house, trying to move out into the forest. Their roots work to disengage themselves from the
cracks in the veranda floor, their leaves strain toward the glass, and their twigs are stiff with exertion.

2. (ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?

Answer 2 (ii): The poet compares their branches to newly discharged patients who are half-dazed and moving to the clinic doors.

3. (i) How does the poet describe the moon: (a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and (b) at its end? What causes this change?
Answer 3 (i):
(a) At the beginning of the third stanza, the poet describes the moon as whole and shining in a sky that is still open.
(b) At the end of the stanza, the moon is described as broken like a mirror, with its pieces flashing in the crown of the tallest oak.
The change is caused by the movement of the trees out of the house, which disrupts the stillness and creates a dynamic scene.

. (ii) What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?
Answer 3 (ii): When the trees move out of the house, it becomes empty and silent. The presence of nature that once filled the house is now
gone, leaving behind a void.

3. (iii) Why do you think the poet does not mention “the departure of the forest from the house” in her letters?
Answer 3 (iii): The poet might not mention “the departure of the forest from the house” in her letters because it is an unexpected and
significant event that might be too overwhelming or embarrassing to articulate. It could also suggest that we often remain silent about important
happenings that deeply affect us.
. Now that you have read the poem in detail, we can begin to ask what the poem
might mean. Here are two suggestions. Can you think of others?
(i) Does the poem present a conflict between man and nature? Compare it with “A
Tiger in the Zoo.” Is the poet suggesting that plants and trees, used for ‘interior
decoration’ in cities while forests are cut down, are ‘imprisoned’, and need to ‘break
out’?
Answer 4 (i): Yes, the poem presents a conflict between man and nature. Similar to
“A Tiger in the Zoo,” where a tiger is confined and longs for freedom, “The Trees”
suggests that plants and trees used for interior decoration are imprisoned and need
to break out to return to their natural habitat. The poem criticizes the practice of
confining nature for aesthetic purposes while destroying natural forests.

(ii) On the other hand, Adrienne Rich has been known to use trees as a metaphor for
human beings; this is a recurrent image in her poetry. What new meanings emerge
from the poem if you take its trees to be symbolic of this particular meaning?
Answer 4 (ii): If we take the trees to be symbolic of human beings, new meanings
emerge related to personal liberation and self-discovery. The trees breaking free
from their confined space can represent individuals striving to break free from
societal constraints or personal limitations to reclaim their true selves. It highlights
themes of growth, transformation, and the quest for authenticity.