“The Almond Tree”
Some Key Quotations Analysed
As you are aware, the poem follows the poet’s literal and metaphorical journey.
It can be divided into roughly three parts: Joy/excitement/anticipation when on
his way to the hospital; devastation when the news is revealed; Realisation and
appreciation of his son when he understands that this experience has taught him
a great deal about himself. I’ve selected quotations from each of these sections.
Have a look at the shortened quotations in the sample essay too.
Opening – Joy/Anticipation
The speaker’s sense of joy/excitement is conveyed at the start of the poem:
“All the way to the hospital
The lights were green as peppermints.
Trees of black iron broke into leaf
ahead of me…”
Immediately establishes that he is on his way to the hospital. The idea that all the
lights were ‘green’ suggests that everything is good and in his favour. Furthermore,
the use of the simile ‘green as peppermints’ when describing the colour is important
as we know that peppermints are sweets. This therefore means that we associate his
journey with the sweetness of and happiness gained from a sweet. In addition, his
knowledge of the imminent birth of his child makes the man feel that everything
around him is blossoming. This is conveyed in that trees supposedly made if harsh
materials like ‘iron’ that appear ‘black’ in colour seem to be awoken. The very idea
that nature is blossoming is appropriate as we associate such cycles in nature with
birth.
The man’s joy and feeling is again highlighted as his journey is compared to that of a
fairytale:
“...as if
I were the lucky prince
in an enchanted wood
summoning summer with my whistle,
banishing winter with a nod.”
This simile portrays the speaker as an all powerful character in the idealistic setting of
an enchanted forest. This is significant as we realise that at this moment in his journey
the speaker feels that his world is idealistic. Furthermore, the use of alliteration is
‘summoning summer’ helps to emphasise that to the speaker a change of seasons is
taking place as the metaphorical coldness in his life (embodied by winter) is banished
and summer is introduced. We associate summer with warmth and this too can be
seen as representative of the poet’s warmth of feeling towards his child.
The sense of excitement is heightened with the increased pace and change of rhythm
in the poem. This mirrors the speed that the man is travelling at and the intensity of
his emotions. This is shown in that he “crosses (at sixty) Magdalen bridge” and
persistently repeats ‘Let it be a son’ as he hurries to reach the hospital.
Middle - Devastation
However, the arrival at the hospital brings devastating news that ‘scissors’ through the
speaker’s joy:
“The doctor walked with
to the slicing doors.
His hand is upon my arm,
his voice – I have to tell
you – set another bell
beating in my head:
your son is a mongol
the doctor said.”
The word ‘slicing’ is effective in suggesting that bad news is imminent as we
associate it with the idea of cutting things into pieces. It soon becomes clear that the
man’s emotions will change dramatically. The idea of a bell makes it clear that things
are worrying for the speaker. Furthermore, the somewhat unusual alliterative phrase
‘bell beating’ helps to convey that the birth has not gone as expected. The harsh, clear
statement ‘your son is a mongol’ makes it clear that his son is not what he expected as
he has been born handicapped.
Perhaps the best example of how the speaker has been affected by the news occurs
when he describes himself as though looking down upon himself like a pilot from
above:
This was my first death.
The ‘I ‘ ascending on a slow
Last thermal breath
studied the man below
as a pilot treading air might
the buckled shell of his plane –
boot, glove and helmet
feeling no pain
Here, the first line demonstrates the devastation that the man feels when we consider
how greatly this contrasts with earlier joy. At this point, the speaker feels like he has
taken his ‘last breath’ and is heading towards death. The word ‘buckled’ is significant
too as it
His devastation is further shown when he describes his son sailing away from him:
“…In a numbered cot
my son sailed from me; never to come
ashore into my kingdom
speaking my language.”
The idea that his son sailed from him is significant as it conveys the idea that he feels
like his son is slipping away from him. The fairytale metaphor of earlier in the poem
is continued here in that the speaker who once described himself as a ‘lucky Prince’ is
now devastated that he and his son will live in separate kingdoms. This suggests that
the father and son will be separated by a number of barriers such as language. It is
clear that, at this point in the poem, the poet feels that he has lost his son.