On Killing a Tree by Gieve Patel

 

The poem On Killing a Tree is written by Gieve Patel. This poem is included in his poetry collection called Poems, which was first launched by Nissim Ezekiel. This poem describes man’s cruelty to trees. The step by step method of killing a tree is depicted minutely. The poet uses irony and sarcasm to convey his message through this poem.

    The poem begins with the line, “It takes much time to kill a tree.”  The tree has grown over a long period of time, from a little seed to huge tree. One has to spend a lot of time and effort to kill such a tree.

 The tree grows out of Mother Earth. It becomes strong and grows into a big tree absorbing water from the soil, sunshine and air. Its roots run deep into the soil. A simple cut with a knife will not destroy a tree. It has remarkable powers of resilience.

        The Earth is here portrayed as a ‘cave’ the cave being symbolic of the womb. While the root remains hidden in the cave of Mother Earth, the tree will not be seriously injured or damaged.  At some point, Man seems to get this, and so he targets the part of the tree that holds the secret connection between the source of life and the tree, the root. And once, a tree is separated from the earth cave, it becomes vulnerable. Then the colour fades and hardens.  And finally, the tree loses its strength and dies.

        Humans do not think of preserving this earth fit for living for coming generations. His cruelties continue when the tree log is left to scorch and burn in the sun. The poem is also about the endless generosity nature offers to man. His greediness for wealth has made man insensitive and heartless to other organisms. The poet sympathizes with the tree and nature in general as it is being destroyed day-by-day by selfish humans. 

Literary Devices in On Killing a Tree

Metaphor: Metaphors are comparisons in which the two things are equated to each other.

And out of its leprous hide: The disfigured and irregular bark of the tree is compared to the skin of a person with leprosy.

The bleeding bark will heal: The fluid coming from the bark, when the tree is wounded is compared to the blood coming from the skin.

Alliteration: repetition of similar sounds.
Bleeding bark - ‘b’ sound
White and wet - ‘w’ sound

Enjambment: when two lines run together without a pause or a break in meaning.

Not a simple jab of the knife

Will do it. It has grown

Slowly consuming the earth

Rising out of it, feeding

Upon its crust, absorbing

Years of sunlight, air, water,

And out of its leprous hide

Sprouting leaves.

 

Gieve Patel

Gieve Patel was born in 1940 in Mumbai. He is a poet, playwright and painter, as well as a doctor by profession. He has written three books of poetry.

–     Poems (1966)

–     How Do You Withstand (1976)

–     Body and Mirrored Mirroring(1991)

He has three plays to his credit. They are Princes, Savaksa and Mr Behram. He has held several exhibitions of his paintings in India and abroad. He lives in Mumbai. His poetry collection Poems was first launched by Nissim Ezekiel.

He belongs to a group of writers who have subscribed themselves to the 'Green Movement', which is involved in an effort to protect the environment.  His poems speak of deep concerns for nature and expose man's cruelty to it.

Themes in his Poems

Gieve Patel is known as the poet of the body since the human body is a common theme in many of his poems. Social inequalities of caste and class that still play an important role in India, the difficulties of the subaltern people, ecological concerns etc., were the recurring themes in his poems.

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Neo- Classicism

The term neo-classicism is sometimes honored but often lamented. The century’s keen interest in ancient civilization and its attempt to resurrect and apply classical ideas in to life and letters is clearly seen in this period. The Latin poets and critics of this period were considered as the best models and ultimate standards of literary taste. The earlier 18^th century poets and critics of English literature felt honour in being able to copy these poets and critics. Hence they were called Neo-classicists.

The period was also called Augustan age, which came from the self-conscious imitation of the original Augustan writers Virgil and Horace by many writers. They flattered themselves that with them English life and literature had reached a culminating period of civilization, corresponding to that which existed at Rome under the emperor Augustus.

18^th century was more educated than the centuries before. Education was no more an upper-class phenomenon. Contribution to literature, science, philosophy etc. came from all parts of the United Kingdom. It was an age of Enlightenment.

In reality the neo-classicist writers largely misunderstood the classical spirit and thinking and produced only a pseudo, superficial imitation of the classical age. The majority of the writers belonged to the upper social stratum. They over emphasized the artificial conventions of the upper-class, looked the other classes with contempt. They professed that great ancient writers like Homer and Virgil had already discovered the fundamental laws of the nature. If the modern writers followed the paths of the ancient writers, they could express the external world, including the world of human action.

The following are the important changes that happened in literature during the eighteenth century.

ü  Rapid development of the novel

ü  An explosion in satire

ü  The mutation of drama from political satire into melodrama  

ü  Evolution towards poetry of personal exploration

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Characteristics of neo-classical literature

The neo-classicists followed the conventional uniformity in manners and speech. Reason and regularity was their guiding stars. They had little appreciation for the external nature or any beauty other than formalized art. This had resulted in the emergence of artificiality in place of naturalism

In poetry importance was given to abstractness of thought and expression, resulting in artificiality & superficiality. Suppression of passion and emotion are visible in neo-classical literature. It was a literature of intelligence not a literature of passion or creative genius. The language of poetry was artificial and mannered; the humbler aspects of life and literature were ignored.

•              Closed Heroic Couplet:

Poetry was written in closed heroic couplet. Unlike the poets of Elizabethan and restoration, the neo-classicist barely tried other forms

Moving from the renaissance period to the period of neo-classicism is a climbing down. Narrowed creative vision from cosmic vision to social view, from a heroic nature of man to a smaller issue in life is the other characteristics of this period. 

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