And oft at nights the garden overflows

With one sweet song that seems to have no close,

Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose.

Though men go to sleep or expire, the rich cultural heritage represented by music lives on.While
the earlier picture is an objective assessment of an outsider, the above lines represent the
appraisal of the culture by an insider. And the speaker beholds a gray baboon as it sits
statuesque watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs puny offsprings leap about and play. It
marks the fusion of the static and kinetic.

The kokilas that hail the day are reminiscent of the birds in Sarojini Naidu's "Bird Sanctuary'
heralding the Festival of Dawn. The rich natural vegetation is portrayed by 'pastures' and "so
beautiful and vast,/The water-lilies spring, like snow enmeshed.""The 'sleepy cows' echo the
tranquility of the natural scenario.

The Casuarina Tree an insignia of the Indian Culture is significant to the speaker not only owing
to its magnificence; it is dear to her soul. The Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi said :"A
nation's culture resides in the hearts of the people." It links the speaker with her childhood as
well, where past and present are bridged. The tree is there as it brings back memories of her
loved ones as are images engraved on the tree. The following lines echo Matthew Arnold's
"Dover Beach"; here the dirge calls out to the lost loved ones.

What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear

Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?
It is the tree's lament, an eerie speech,
That haply to the unknown land may reach.

In keeping with the symbolism, it may hail the freedom fighters responsible for gifting us with a
free nation. It is universal in its implications as it "haply to the unknown land may reach." The
universality is emphasized yet again by the words "Of France or Italy, beneath the moon," The
poetess celebrates the memory of the departed souls that she commemorates in the garden.
She recalls the times spent with Aru, her sister in France and Italy. She craves for her dead
sibling now. In the grievance, time and space ,past and present are united by the tree. Just as
the tree(symbolizing the Nation), possesses the power to unify diverse elements. This sense of
oneness also symbolizes the union of the aatma with the paramaatma. This is the 'sublime
vision " that the poetess talks of. It is unknown to the sense-perceptions but known to the eye
of faith. Only with a deeper spiritual faith can we comprehend the same. In "Dover Beach"
Arnold laments over the loss of faith. The "inner vision" represents here the speaker's insight.
The 'form sublime' represents the soul of the poetess that identifies with the soul of India. This
unique meeting is expressed in the lines:

Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime

I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.
The mortal souls are juxtaposed against the immortal stature of the tree.

Like a huge Python, winding round and round looks the rugged trunk, indented; form deep recesses or
notches in position or begin (a line or block of text) further from the margin than the main part of the
text; deep with scars, up to its very summit; the highest point of a hill or mountain: the highest
attainable level of achievement; near the stars, a creeper climbs, in whose embraces; hold closely in
one’s arms, especially as a sign of affection: include or contain: accept or support (a belief or change)
willingly; bound. No other tree could live but gallantly; brave; heroic. The giant wears the scarf; a length
or square of fabric worn around the neck or head; and flowers are hung in crimson; a rich deep red
colour inclining to purple: Clusters; a group of similar things positioned or occurring closely together; all
the boughs among, where on all day are gathered bird and bee; And often at night the garden overflows
with one sweet song that seems to have no end, sung darkling from their tree, while men repose.
When first his casement is wide open thrown at dawn, his eyes delighted on it rest; Sometimes, and
mostly in winter,—on its crest; a comb or tuft of feathers, fur, or skin on the head of a bird or other
animal; a gray baboon; a large ground-dwelling social monkey with a long doglike snout and large teeth;
sits statue-like alone Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs. Its puny offspring leap about and
play; and far and near kokilas hail the day; And to their pastures wend their sleepy cows; and in the
shadow, on the broad tank cast by that hoar; grey or grey-haired with age tree, so beautiful and vast. The
water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed; all together...But not because of its magnificence dear is the
Casuarina; a tree with slender, jointed, drooping twigs bearing tiny scale-like leaves, native to Australia
and SE Asia. To his soul beneath it they have played; though years may roll, for all the sweet companions,
loved with love intense. For their sakes, shall the tree be ever dear. Blent with their images, it shall arise
in memory, till the hot tears blind his eyes! What is that dirge-like; a lament for the dead, especially one
forming part of a funeral rite: a mournful song, piece of music, or sound. –; murmur that he hears like
the sea breaking on a shingle-beach? A mass of small rounded pebbles, especially on seashore. It is the
tree’s lament, an eerie speech; strange and frightening. That haply to the unknown land may reach.

Unknown, yet well-known to the eye of faith! He has heard that wail far, far away in distant lands, by
many a sheltered bay. When slumbered in his cave the water-wraith and the waves gently kissed the
classic shore of France or Italy, beneath the moon. When earth lay trancèd; a half-conscious state
characterized by an absence of response to external stimuli, typically as induced by hypnosis or entered
by a medium: a state of abstraction: (also trance music) a type of electronic dance music characterized
by hypnotic rhythms: put into a trance; in a dreamless swoon: And every time the music rose,—before
Mine inner vision rose a form sublime; of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great
admiration or awe. The form of the Causarina Tree, as in his happy prime he saw it, in his own loved
native clime; a region considered with reference to its climate. Therefore he is fain; pleased or willing
under the circumstances: obliged; would consecrate a lay unto its honor. Tree, beloved of those who
now in blessed sleep for its repose,—Dearer than life to him alas, were they! May it be numbered when
his days are done with deathless trees—like those in Borrowdale; name of a place that has many such
casuarinas; under whose awful branches lingered pale “Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,
And Time the shadow;” and though weak the verse that would its beauty fain that rehearse; practice (a
play, piece of music, or other work) for later public performance. May Love defend it from the Oblivion’s
curse; the state of being unaware of what is happening around one: the state of being forgotten.

Summary
The poetess writes this in reminiscence of the Casuarina tree that grew in the courtyard of
her childhood home. The poem opens with a description of the tree, tall enough to make it
seem like it touches the stars, strong enough to continue growing despite scars on its trunk
and despite all this it provides support to a creeper. And yet she gives it the air of a
Gentleman when she describes how the tree is forever adorned with flowers and birds and
bees. Thus we see the tree in her childhood was not only as a paragon of strength, but
gentle and loved by the birds and bees.
She goes on to tell us about the mornings in her childhood when she would wake up to the
sight of the Casuarina Tree. Come summer or winter, her morning would remain incomplete
without the sight of the Casuarina tree, often with a baboon sitting on its crest. She then
paints a serene picture of the morning with the kokilas singing, the cows on the pasture and
the water lilies in the spring. However, the figure of the Casuarina tree stands central in this
picture, as it does in the morning and even in the life of the poetess.
In the third stanza the poetess tells us why she holds the Casuarina tree dear. It is not just
the magnificence of the tree that drew her to it, but there was an emotional bond to the tree
as well. It was under the shade of the tree that she and her friends played as children.
Whenever she saw the Casuarina tree she was reminded of her childhood and the time she
spent with her friends. She held her childhood friends in great regard and the tree was a
symbol of the experiences they had. It was for this very reason that she loved the Casuarina
tree and would remember her friends whenever she thought of it.
The poetess, in the fourth stanza, also talks of how the “lament” of the tree can be heard by
her even when she is far away, off the coasts of France and Italy. She hears this song
whenever she’s near the coasts, strolling under the moonlight, and is reminded of the
Casuarina tree. We may infer that in her moments of peace and calm her memory jogs back
to her childhood which is inextricably linked with the Casuarina tree and she draws up a
mental image of the tree as it existed in its prime, in her childhood. Here we can see that
the Casuarina tree is not only an integral part of her childhood and a symbol of her
friendship with her childhood friends, it is the only thing which has remained static. Each
and every one of her friends has moved on, including her, yet the Casuarina tree remains
as it is. It is the only thing that stands as a monument to their friendship.
Therefore, in the last stanza she says she would gladly create a monument in the honour of
the tree, for that is how much the tree is beloved to her. She also wishes that the tree grow
for years to come and be counted in the list of the deathless trees of Borrowdale, which
sheltered death and even time. She finally wishes that her love become so strong that it
saves the Casuarina tree from its demise.