‘The Trees’ Poem’s word meanings are given here. The meanings carry literal as well as the literary and figurative meanings so that students could properly understand the poem ‘The Trees’.
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Stanza 1
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.
Meanings
empty: vacant, hollow, missing
bury: cover something so that it is visible
Stanza 2
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.
Meanings
disengage: get free
veranda: the space right outside the house but attached to it
strain: make a lot of effort
twigs: the topmost part of branches
stiff: hard
exertion: pressure
cramped: shrunk
boughs: larger branches of a tree
shuffling: slow dragging motion without lifting feet, changing place
half-dazed: half-shocked/ or half asleep
Stanza 3
I sit inside, door 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.
Meanings
veranda: the space right outside the house but attached to it
scarcely: hardly
departure: leaving, starting of something like train
lichen: crusty patches on tree trunks
Stanza 4
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.
Meanings
whispers: low hushing voices
silent: quite
stumbling: walk unsteady
rush: hurry
flash: shine
oak: the name of a tree
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