Contents

The Trees

Central situation: renewal of life

  • the trees are reborn, symbolizing renewal and hope in contrast to humans who will die
  • trees have life as a cycle which continues while for humans, death is inevitable
  • Larkin compares human life with the life cycle of a tree

Style and Figures of speech

  • iambic tetrameter
  • lyrical qualities
  • repetition, personification (of trees), assonance
  • simple, plain language

Structure

  • regular rhyme scheme, same throughout the poem (ABBA)- this symbolizes the continuous cycle of nature
  • the last line links back to the first line, suggesting the cycle
  • punctuation: full stops (stanza 2) to show that death is unavoidable
  • the first stanza begins hopefully but ends with the word “grief”
  • this sets the rhetorical question at the start of the first question - which is answered by Larkin, who come answers it with certainty, saying that death is the reality
  • the first two stanzas reflect on appearance and reality
  • the third stanza starts with “Yet”, a structural pivot
  • despite the gloom of the reality of life, Larkin sees hope with the line “Begin afresh”

Voice and tone

  • Larkin seems to celebrate and lament/grieve at times
  • he is melancholic when he talks about death and the reality
  • there is sense of ambiguity when he says “Like something almost being said” - he does not understand what they are trying to say

Language

  • “Their greenness is a kind of grief” - he links two contradictory words through alliteration and assonance
  • “greenness” usually has positive connotations such as a fresh start, but with “grief”, is gives an opposite meaning of something sharp and painful
  • the colors convey emotions
  • the combinations of “something” and “almost” is vague and creates a sense of ambiguity - sense of incompleteness - what is incomplete is revealed in the second stanza, it is “written down in rings of grain”, therefore death and life are brought together
  • “unresting castles thresh/In fullgrown thickness” (image) - an energetic image, suggests that the trees never stop growing, and are majestic
  • the repetition in the last stanza - “Begin afresh,…” mirrors the message of starting again, and again, and again

Stanza 1

  • the poet envies the fact that trees can be reborn but humans cannot
  • Larkin compares he cycle of life of a tree to humans, which have only one life

Stanza 2

  • the poet puts forth a pessimistic view on life
  • similar to humans, trees grow old, but they are able to hide their age in “rings of grain”
  • the poet is jealous that trees are able to hide their age while humans are not

Stanza 3

  • “yet still” - demonstrates that he understands the reality and creates a shift in perspective as the poet changes his views
  • the poet appreciates the life cycle of trees - he compares them to majestic “unresting castles”
  • “unresting castles” - demonstrates the continuity of life
  • repetition of “afresh” - onomatopoeic (sound of leaves rustling) and emphasizes on the renewal of life and how the past is forgotten, as they “Begin afresh”