critical summary of the poem the heart of the tree by henry cuyler bunner ( 1 and a half page)
Answers
This poem is simple yet a thoughtful one by Henry Cutler Bunner, explaining about the vast advantages of tress and how they help in glorifying our natural resources, not only helping the earthly creatures at an individual scale but also contributing to national growth.
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants a friend of sun and sky;
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty, towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard—
The treble of heaven’s harmony—
These things he plants who plants a tree.
The first stanza tells us about how a tree grows tall, reaching for the sky and the sun, about how it sways freely with the breeze like a flag, about how it makes a home for the birds and their chirping near the heaven itself.
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest’s heritage;
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see—
These things he plants who plants a tree.
This one speaks about how the tree provides us shade, rain and buds for it’s propagation while it stands there through all the years. It reflects on how the trees glorify the plains and the one who plants it helps in revamping the forest’s heritage for the next generations to see.
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good—
His blessings on the neighborhood,
Who in the hollow of His hand
Holds all the growth of all our land—
A nation’s growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.
Coming to the final stanza, which speaks about how every leaf, the wood, the sap represents the loyalty and social responsibility the one who plants a tree holds. He helps in the growth of the nation across the seas. He concludes by saying that these are his thoughts and visions being stirred in his heart
Answer:
The Heart of the Tree by the American poet and novelist Henry Cuyler Bunner is a fine piece of poetry with a simple theme and a simpler structure. The poem was originally published in 1912.
Planting a tree is always a great work for the mankind. But, the poet has found out new ways to look at the plants and plantation. In his poem The Heart of the Tree he glorifies the act further, shows how a tree helps life on earth and says that it has a direct connection to a nation’s growth.
All the three stanzas of the poem The Heart of the Tree starts with a refrain with the poet asking what the man actually plants who plants a tree. Then he chooses to reply it by himself and shows what a tree means to the humankind and to the nature, thus proving how great that man is.
The rhythm is amazing. The rhyme scheme is ABABBCCAA for each stanza. This is a deviation from the celebrated Spenserian stanza, a nine line stanza with the scheme ABABBCBCC. Though the language is simple, careful wordings makes the poem more expressive and obviously musical and attractive.