Here we have given NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Floght Poem 8 The Trees by Adrienne Rich.
The Trees by Adrienne Rich
Textbook Question Answers
Q:1 (i) Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest.
Ans: The three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest are:
(a)The sitting of a bird on trees
(b) The hiding of insects and
(c) The sun burying its feet in the shadow of the forest.
Q: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’?
Ans: The sun radiates heat and the given words create a picture of the hot, radiating sun cooling its feet in the cool shadow of the forest. The sun’s ‘feet’ refers to its rays that reach the earth.
Q:2 (i) Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves and their twigs do?
Ans: In the poem, the trees are in the poet’s house. Their roots work all night to disengage themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor. The leaves make efforts to move towards the glass, while the small twigs get stiff with exertion.
Q:2 (ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?
Ans: The poet compares the ‘long-cramped’ branches that have been shuffling under the roof to newly discharged patients who look half-dazed as they move towards the hospital doors after long illnesses and wait to get out of the hospital. The branches also have cramped under the roof and want to get out into the open to spread themselves in fresh air.
Q: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?
Ans: (i) In the beginning of the third stanza, the poet says that the whole moon is shining in the open sky in the fresh night. However, at the end of the stanza, she describes the moon as broken into many pieces such as a shattered mirror. This change is caused by the trees that have made their way from her home to outside. Their branches have risen into the sky, blocking the moon, which is why the moon seems to be broken into many pieces. These pieces can be seen flashing at the top of the tallest oak tree.
Q:3 (ii) What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?
Ans: When the trees move out of the house, the glass gets broken and the smell of the leaves and lichens still reaches the rooms of the house.
Q:3 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?
Ans: If trees are symbolic of human beings, then it could be said that humans too want to break away from the shackles of the busy and selfish lives they lead. They also want to go out into the nature and be free. They work all day and sometimes all night to try and achieve something though they do not have the time to enjoy it. They keep striving hard in their routines as they feel cramped under the roofs of their homes and offices. Even they want to break free and go out into the peaceful nature.
