TREES

ADRIENNE RICH
• 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.
 The trees inside are moving out into the
forest,
the forest that was empty all these days
where no bird could sit
STANZA 1 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
• The poet says that the trees are moving out of the confines of the
houses, into the open forest. This is unreallistic as trees are
immoveable and hence, we realize that the poem has a symbolic
meaning. We interpret that trees refer to females who have healed
themselves and are ready to move out of their homes, into the forests
to fulfil their primary purpose of filling the world with mankind.
Further she adds that the forest has been empty for the past many days
and so, no birds can be seen as they do not have any trees to sit on, on
insects can be seen as they do not have any shelter and the Sunlight
cannot form any shadows. The forest of humanity has remained empty
for many days but will soon be full and bright.
• Literary Devices:
Personification: Sun bury it’s feet. Sun has been personified.
Enjambment: Continuation of a sentence to the next line (the forest
that was…… trees by morning).
Anaphora: 2 lines begin with ‘no’
imagery: “The trees inside are moving out into the forest” – shows
kinestatic imagery
 All night the roots work
to disengage themselves from the cracks
in the veranda floor.
The leaves strain toward the glass
STANZA 2 small twigs stiff with exertion
long-cramped boughs shuffling under the roof
like newly discharged patients
half-dazed, moving
to the clinic doors.
WORD MEANING
• Disengage: remove
Strain: pressure
Twigs: small stem
Exertion: effort
Cramped: restricted
Boughs: branch
Shuffling: mixing
Discharged: send out
Dazed: stun
• The poet explains the struggle done by the plants to reach the forest.
She says that the roots worked for the whole night to separate
themselves from the veranda floor. The leaves tried hard to reach the
window of glass so that they could go outside. Even the small stems of
the trees put much of their effort in order to set themselves free. The
big branches were also trying a lot to go out from the roof of the room.
We can say that women are desperate for a change and their effort is
compared to that made by a patient who has been released from the
hospital and he tries to move out in a hurry although he is confused.
Maybe because they are half conscious and are under the influence of
some medication, they are unsteady but in a hurry to leave the clinic.
Literary Devices:
Enjambment: continuation of sentence to the next line (the leaves
strain……. Half dazed)
Simile: trees compared to patients (like newly discharged patients)
personification: twigs and boughs have been personified.
STANZA 3
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
• The poet says that she is sitting in her veranda, writing long letters.
She does not mention about the trees leaving her house in her letters.
She says that the night is very clear. She can see the complete moon
which is shining. The smell of leaves and lichens is like a voice which
is yelling and expressing a desire for freedom from the confines of the
house.
Literary Devices:
• Alliteration: ‘long letters’ forest from’ ‘sky still’ ‘leaves and lichen’
• Enjambment: continuation of sentence to the next line (doors
open….the house)
• Imagery: the poet has tried to create a scene in which she is observing
all the things happening (the night is fresh……into the rooms)
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.
• Her head is full of the slow sounds made by the trees which are
desperate to move out. These sounds will not be heard the next day.
The poet asks the reader to listen carefully as a change is about to take
place. She hears the glass window breaking and the trees stumble out
into the night. The wind is blowing outside. It meets the trees. The
moon is like a mirror and it appears to have been broken into pieces as
the shadow of the oak tree divides the moon into many fragments.
Literary devices:
Simile: The moon is compared to a mirror (Moon is broken like a
mirror)