Poem 4 – On Killing A Tree
9th Grade, English
POEM - 4
ON KILLING A TREE
It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leprous hide
Sprouting leaves.
So hack and chop
But this alone won’t do it.
Not so much pain will do it.
The bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.
No,
The root is to be pulled out Out of the anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied,
And pulled out - snapped out
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed,
The source, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.
Then the matter
Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.
- Gieve Patel
THE POET
Gieve Patel was born in Mumbai in 1940, and was
educated at St. Xavier’s High School and Grant Medical
College.
He lives in Mumbai and practices Medicine.
He also writes poems and plays in English. His poems
appeared in the Illustrated Weekly of India, New
Writings in India, and Young Commonwealth Poets ’65.
His plays are staged, but not published.
His poems are based mostly on Indian themes.
SUMMARY OF THE POEM
•
In the poem, "On Killing a Tree" by Gieve Patel, the poet wants to say something about the cutting of
trees. According to him, it will take too much time to kill a tree. It is not just a simple jab (means a
quick stab or blow) to do the job. The tree has grown slowly consuming the earth (means eating and
drinking from it), rising out of the earth, feeding upon the crust of the earth, absorbing (means
taking in) innumerable years of sunlight, air water, out of the trees' leprous hide (means resembling
the skin of a leper (here) refers to the discolored bark of the tree) the newly formed leaves begin to
sprout.
•
A woodcutter may hack (means cut or chop) with repeated and regular blows (means chop), but still
this alone will not do the job. The tree does not seem to feel any kind of pain because the bleeding
bark seemed to heal all the time. The trunk of the tree from close to the ground will produced curled
green twigs that will rise from the miniature bows. If their growth is not checked, then they will
expand again and grow to their former sizes.
•
The most important thing to do while killing a tree is to ensure that the root is pulled out of the
anchoring (means source of security and stability) earth. The tree is to be rope-tied and pulled out snapped out (means pulled apart or break with a snapping sound) or it should be pulled out entirely
from the earth cave.
•
Finally, the strength of the tree will be exposed, from the very source where the white and wet,
which is the most sensitive part which has been hidden for many years inside the earth. Then it is
only a scorching (means burning) superficially so as to discolor or damage the texture of and choking
(means drying up here) in the sun. In the end, the tree will go through a process of browning,
hardening, twisting and withering. Then ultimately, the tree gets killed.
GLOSSARY
S. No Word
Meaning
1
Anchoring earth
Supporting earth, fixing to earth, fastened to earth, source of security and stability
2
Absorbing
Taking in
3
brown
Colour of earth
4
Choke
To make someone unable to breath
5
chop
To cut into pieces
6
Consume
To use especially fuel and energy, eating and drinking
7
crust
The hard outer surface
8
curl
To form something into a curved / circular shape
9
hack
To cut with rough and heavy blows
10
heal
cure
11
jab
Push with sudden strong movement, stab or blow
12
leprous
Infected with leprosy/ a rough surface, (here) refers to the discolored bark of the tree.
13
scorch
To burn and damage surface
14
sensitive
Ability to feel pain
15
Sprout
Come out, new growth on a plant, germinate
16
wither
Become dry
COMPREHENSION
I.
Answer the following questions briefly:
1. The mood of the poem is:
a) Pleasant
b) Nostalgic
c) Sad
2.
Make a list of words which refer to the process of killing a tree:
Answer: list of words: a) Jab (stab or blow), b) hack and chop (Repeated severe chopping),
c) pulling out, d) roped, tied and snapped-out, e) scorching, f) choking, g) Browning, h)
Hardening, i) Twisting and j) Withering (devastate or destroy)
3.
What does the phrase “bleeding bark” mean ?
Answer: The poet feels that tree gets wounded with every hack and chop. By saying
“bleeding bark will heal”, the poet affirms that the wounds of the tree will get cured.
4.
How much time will the bleeding bark take to heal?
Answer: Bleeding bark will take few weeks to heal.
5.
How is the strength of the tree is revealed?
Answer: The strength of the tree is revealed by exposing its white and wet root, hidden
inside the earth for years by anchoring the earth.
II.
Read the Extracts and answer the questions that follow:
1. ‘ So hack and chop
But this alone won’t do it ?’
a) What does the word ‘it’ refers to?
Answer: The word ‘it’ refers to ‘On Killing a tree’
b) What are processes suggested to do it?
Answer: The stem and root of the tree has to be roped, tied and pulled out entirely from
the earth-cave till the root of the tree is exposed.
c) Who is the speaker?
Answer: The poet himself is the speaker
2.
“ And the close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs”
a) Who is the speaker?
Answer: The poet himself is the speaker
b) Why will green twigs rise from the close to the ground?
Answer: Green twigs rise from the close to the ground because the tree wants to grow and
expand further back again.
III.
Answer the following questions in a paragraph each:
1. Why does it take much time to kill a tree?
Answer: The tree has grown slowly consuming the resources of earth and rising out of the earth,
feeding upon the crust of the earth, absorbing innumerable years of sunlight, air , water, out of the
trees' leprous like skin. Like a ship anchored in the sea, the roots of the tree were anchored and
fastened to the earth. The stem and root of the tree has to be roped, tied and pulled out entirely
from the earth-cave till the root of the tree is exposed. Therefore, it takes much time to kill the
tree because the tree.
2. The process suggested for killing a tree sounds very cruel and barbaric. Discuss:
Answer: Instead of using the words, ‘felling’ or ‘cutting’ for removal of tree, the poet calls it as ‘On
killing a tree’. Also he describes the process in detail by saying, not a single jab will do the job and
that requires several repeated hacks and chops. And the poet writes that the stem and root of the
tree has to be roped, tied and pulled out entirely from the earth-cave till the softest end of the
root of the tree is exposed. Though the process suggested for killing the tree appear to be cruel
and barbaric, we should not fail to notice the poet’s humane side while crying for “bleeding
barks”, the wounds created by repeated chops. Either the poet writes this poem in a nostalgic
mood, reminiscence of his observations, or he symbolizes something in place of the tree.
3. “And then it is done:- The last line suggests that the process is very laborious” Do you think
so? If yes/No Give reasons.
Answer: Yes. The successful accomplishment of the job was described as “And then it is done”.
While killing a tree, one has to confront many obstacles posed by the tree. It has grown very
strong over the years consuming all earth’s resources and anchoring to the earth with deep grown
roots. In order to overcome such obstacles, several tools like axes and knives, several actions like
chopping, tying, and pulling-out and several techniques like hardening, scorching, twisting etc.
were used in the process of killing the tree. Therefore, the process was laborious.
APPRECIATION
1. There are number of words/expressions which signal cruelty and violence. List them out. Why
does the poet use those expressions?
Answer: First and foremost, the title itself is cruel. Instead of using the words, ‘felling’ or ‘cutting’
for removal of tree, the poet calls it as ‘On killing a tree’. While describing the process, it is said
that, not a simple jab will do the job and it required several hacks and chops. Further descriptions
like, pulling out, to be roped, tied and snapped-out, scorching, choking, Browning, Hardening,
Twisting and Withering are also signal cruelty and violence. At the same time, the poet equates
the cuts of the tree to the wounds and describes it as “bleeding bark”. Either the poet writes this
poem in a nostalgic mood, remembering his childhood observations, or he symbolizes some evils
of society, in place of the tree and how it should be eradicated.
2. Study the last stanza. There are six words used to refer to the process of killing. All in the
……ing form. Why does the poet use them?
Answer: The words are, Scorching and choking, Browning, Hardening, Twisting and withering. The
process of killing tree given in the stanzas other than the last are to jab, hack, chop, tie and pull
are all sequential and one follows other. And these are done over one tree in sequence. But the
words in last stanza, Scorching and choking, Browning, Hardening, Twisting and withering are
done to wooden logs, not to a particular tree and not in a particular sequence and may be
overlapping too. These words describe the seasoning of wood which is a continuous process.