Question

what do you mean by not so much pain will do it
Chapter on killing a tree

Answer 1

The poem “On killing a tree” begins with the ironical setting that trees have been an enemy of the humans. The poet says that trees have used most of the earth's crust, sunlight, and water as compared t that of the humans. Hence, he adds an irony that trees must be killed because they are human beings' enemy.

In the poem “On killing a tree” the poet Gieve Patel uses many figures of speech like personification and metaphor. The poet personifies the act of killing a tree to that of killing a human. Wounding the tree with the knife is personified as the wounds of humans. He tries to show the dilemma of taking harsh decisions in life. Here he uses metaphor to build a comparison between a tree's grieve and that of the humans.