The Trees . By- Adrienne Rich Adrienne Rich - A Short Biography ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adrienne Rich was an American poet, essayist and feminist. She was born on 16 May 1929 and died at the age of 82 on 27 March 2012. ‘Of Woman Born’ On Lies, Secrets & Silence and “When We Dead Awaken; are some of her famous works. In 1971, she was awarded the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. INTRODUCTION This is a poem about decorative plants. These plants are grown in houses for beautification. These grow in small pots and pans. They have taken the place of large forest trees which have been cut by human beings. This poem presents the picture of harm to nature by human beings by their actions.Adrienne Rich's “The Trees” is a nature poem. Forests are the natural habitat of trees, birds and insects. In the absence of trees in the forest, the ecological balance will be disturbed. In this poem, the poetess has personified nature. Man has confined nature within his four walls. Man has uprooted trees and kept them in the modern artificial glasshouses. But nature can't be subdued for long. The trees struggle to break the artificial bathers. They become free breaking all the bondages and move towards their natural habitat — the forest. Only there they can grow to the natural vastness, grandeur and dimensions. The poetess tries to convey that like human beings trees also need freedom. They can get their natural growth and freedom when they are in the forest and not in artificial houses made by human beings.DETAILED SUMMARY (2) 1. Trees Moving Out: The trees inside are coming out. They are coming out of those artificial glasshouses where humans have so far confined them. The trees are freeing themselves from human bondage. They are moving out into the forest. The forest has been and will ever be, the natural habitat of trees. ‘The trees’ are metaphors for nature itself. 2. Empty Forests: Human civilization and progress have led to the cutting of trees ona large scale. Without trees, forests have become empty. There are no trees left now where birds can perch themselves on their tops. Even Insects have lost the places where they could hide inside them. There are no trees left in the forest where the red hot sun could find some cooling by burying itself in their shadows. However, the poetess is hopeful. The forest which remained ‘empty all these nights’ will be full of trees. 3. Roots Work All Night to FreeThemselves: The roots continue struggling all night. They want to free themselves. They try to come out from the cracks in the veranda floor. The leaves strain themselves moving towards the glass. Small twigs have become tough and hard. The long-cramped and crushed branches move repeatedly from one position to the other under the roof. These moving branches look like the patients who run out of the hospital in a hurry. Almost half-dazed, they move to the doors of the hospital to escape from it. 4. Poetess Sitting Inside: The poetess is sitting inside. Doors open to the veranda. She is writing long letters. But in those letters, she is not describing how trees are struggling to come out of their artificial habitat. They are going to their real and natural habitat. The trees are moving towards the forest. It is their real habitat. The night is fresh. The full moon is shining brightly in the sky. The smell of leaves and lichen is spreading out into the rooms. It cames incide like a waice fram aiitcida5. Head Full of Whispers: The poetess is sitting inside. The struggle of the roots, leaves and branches to free themselves from their artificial habitat continues. Her head is full of whispers. These are whispers of the struggling trees. Then, she asks us to listen to those struggling sounds. We will notice that the struggling trees have come out breaking the glasshouse. They are still stumbling but marching forward victoriously towards the forest. Winds rush forward to welcome the victorious trees. The trees have grown up to such dimensions that have even covered the full moon. Covered by the leaves and branches of the trees, the full moon looks like a broken mirror into many pieces. These broken pieces of the moon can be seen through the holes of the tallest oak at the top.