ON KILLING A TREE BY GIEVE PATEL – CLASS IX

In this poem, the poet symbolizes a deep-rooted evil. He says that a tree can’t be
killed out just by hacking and chopping it. For a permanent end, it should be
uprooted entirely and left out to wither in the sun. In the same way, we cannot get
rid of social evil just be criticism. Society should root them up to die forever.

The poem presents the sturdiness of a fully grown tree, strengthened by

nourishment from the earth, the sun and the air. The poem conveys the message
that trees are living beings just like any other form of life.

The poet compares the process of cutting down trees to committing an act of
murder. The poet presents this view in an ironic and sarcastic tone. The pain
experienced by trees while being killed dominates the mood of the poem. The
poem opens with the statement that killing a tree takes a lot of time. It is not easy
to kill a deep rooted tree. It takes much time to kill it. A tree is too strong to be
killed by a simple attack of a knife. It has grown slowly consuming the earth,
feeding upon its crust, absorbing years of sunlight. The strength it has stored
through a long period of hard work and patience cannot be destroyed in one go.
When a tree is chopped, the barks bleed but soon it heals and expands again to its
former size. If one wants to kill a tree, it has to be pulled out of the anchoring
earth. Its most sensitive part, [Link], the roots, has to be exposed to the sun and the
air. Once it is done, the tree is killed.

Stanza 1

It takes much time to kill a tree./Not a simple job 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.

Killing a tree is a tough job. It is not a simple job which can be done by simple
strike of a knife. The tree has been considered, ironically, to be the enemy of
human beings. The tree slowly consumes earth. It uses the resources of the
earth’s crust. It rises by consuming air, sunlight, and water for years. Consuming
the Earth’s resources, have made leaves grow from its leprous (white and scaly-
resembling the physical symptoms of leprosoy) like bark.

Stanza 2

So hack and chop/But this alone wont do it./Not so much pain will do it/The
bleeding bark will heal/And from close to the ground/Will rise curled green
twigs./Miniature boughs/Which if unchecked will expand again/To former size.

Thus, much effort is needed to kill a tree. It is needed to be hacked and chopped.
It cannot be done by so much pain that will be caused to the tree. The bleeding
bark of the tree will heal one day. From the ground, the curled green twigs,
miniature boughs, that means the twisted and small branches, will rise again if not
cut properly. It is needed to be uprooted properly.

Stanza 3

No,/The root is to be pulled out -/Out of the anchoring earth;/It is to be roped

tied./And pulled out – snapped out/Or pulled out entirely./Out from the earth-
cave./And the strength of the tree exposed/The source, white and wet,/The most
sensitive, hidden/For years inside the earth.

No, that also, means cutting of small branches will also not be enough. The roots
needed to be pulled off. It is to be tied by ropes and pulled out. It needed to be
pulled out from the earth’s cave. The strength of the tree needed to be exposed.
The strength which is white and wet, which means, great strength of the trunk,
which is hidden beneath the earth, which has been holding the tree for years is
needed to be attacked.

Stanza 4

Then the matter/Of scorching and choking/In sun and ir,/Browning,

hardening,/Twisting, withering./And then it is done.

After that, when the tree is uprooted, it gets scorched in the sunlight, choked, get
more browned, get harden, get twisted and get withered, and then, finally the tree
is killed.

LITERARY DEVICES

1. No rhyme scheme in the poem. It is written in free verse. There is no

rhyme or rhythm.
2. Metaphor: indirect comparison
Leprous hide - the uneven colour of the surface of the trunk of a tree is
compared to the skin of a person suffering from leprosy.
Bleeding bark - the sap coming out of tree where it is cut is compared to
the bleeding from the wound in a human’s body

3. Alliteration: repetition of a consonant sound in 2 or more closely places

words.
Bleeding bark - ‘b’ sound
White and wet - ‘w’ sound
4. Repetition: a word or sentence is repeated to lay emphasis on it.
‘Pulled out’ is repeated

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1. Can a ‘simple job of the knife’ kill a tree? Why not?
2. How has the tree gown to its full size? List the words suggestive of its life
and activity.
3. What is the meaning of ‘bleeding bark’? What makes it bleed?
4. The poet says ‘No’ in the beginning of the third stanza. What does he mean
by this?
5. What is the meaning of ‘anchoring earth’ and ‘earth cave’?
6. What does he mean by ‘the strength of the tree exposed’?
7. What finally kills the tree?
1. No, a simple job of a knife cannot kill a tree because it takes many years for
a tree to grow and rise out of the earth. Moreover, only a chop cannot kill it
because it will slowly rise again and grow to its original size.
2. The tree grows to its full size by absorbing years of sunlight, water and air.
It slowly grows out of the earth and sprouts leaves. The words suggestive of
its life and activity are ‘grown slowly consuming the earth’, ‘rising out of it’,
‘feeding upon its crust’, ‘absorbing years of sunlight, air, water’ and
‘sprouting leaves’.
3. ‘Bleeding bark’ refers to the area on the tree trunk where it has been hit
with the axe. It bleeds because the wood cutter has wounded the tree by
cutting and chopping it.
4. In the beginning of the third stanza, the poet has said ‘No’ to lay emphasis
on the fact that mere chopping of the tree would not kill it. The tree would
grow again and retain its original size.
5. ‘Anchoring earth’ refers to the roots of the tree that lie inside the earth and
play the role of an anchor for the tree to grow. They ensure the security of
the tree as they nourish it with water and nutrients. ‘Earth cave’ refers to
the ground on which the foundation of the tree is laid as it holds the roots
and keeps the tree standing tall and protects it from adversities such as
heavy rainfall or storm.
6. The strength of the tree lies in its roots, which the poet asks to snap out in
order to kill the tree. Thus, the phrase ‘the strength of the tree exposed’
refers to the roots of the tree being exposed to sunlight and air.
7. The tree is finally killed by the uprooting of its roots. When the roots, which
had anchored it lying hidden in the earth for years were dug out, the tree’s
strength was exposed and this led to the death of the tree. It dried up after
it had been uprooted.

EXTRA QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. What is the effect of hacking and chopping on a tree?

A tree cannot be killed by a simple knife attack. Hacking and chopping of a
tree makes the bark bleed. It is soon healed and then it grows to its former
size. It cannot be killed by these actions alone.
2. What happens to the tree after its bark will heal?
 The wounds of the tree heal when green twigs rise from close to the ground.
The small boughs will grow to their former size and the tree is alive again.
This is the way of nature.
3. ‘Consuming the earth, rising out of it.’ Explain.
The poet conveys that a tree grows stronger in the earth. It feeds on the
earth rising out of it. It gets its strength from it. It is not easy to kill the
tree by a simple jab of the knife. It is securely attached in the soil.
4. ‘Which, if unchecked, will expand again to former size.’ What will expand to
its former size?
The poet says that chopping of a tree does not kill it. It only bleeds the
branches. They soon heal up and rise again. If the miniature boughs are
left unchecked, they soon expand and become a huge tree.
5. What does the killing of a tree symbolize?
The killing of a tree symbolizes the killing of a habit. Like a tree, habit
grows stronger with the passing years. It can’t be given up in one stroke. It
takes much time to give up a habit as it has to be given up with a strong
determination.
6. How does the poet create the feelings of sadness in the poem ‘On Killing a
Tree’?
The poet creates a feeling of sadness by using words like killing, jabbing,
bleeding, uprooting, etc. The ‘bleeding bark’ conveys the pain of a tree.
‘No, so much pain will do it’, ‘the bleeding bark will heal’ are the phrases
that create the feeling of sadness among the readers.
7. It takes much time to kill a tree,/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.
a. A sharp blow of _____ will not kill a tree. (knife)
b. ‘It’ in the above lines refers to ____. (a tree).
c. A tree grows gradually taking nutrition from the soil-True/False. (True).
d. The word ‘leprous’ is relating to the disease. (leprosy).
8. So hack and chop/But this alone wont do it./Not so much pain will do it/The
bleeding bark will heal/And from close to the ground/Will rise curled green
twigs,/Miniature boughs/Which if unchecked will expand again/To former
size.
a. Humans cut and ___ the bark of trees into many pieces. (chop)
b. The barks that are cut will bleed and soon. (heal up).
c. The above lines mean that the tree will survive even after the brutal
attack by man, and its branches will expand again. (True/False) (True)
d. …………, in the above lines means ‘something very smart’. (miniature)
9. No,/the root is to be pulled out/Out of the anchoring earth:/It is to be roped,
tied/And pulled out – snapped out/Or pulled out entirely,/Out from the earth-
cave,/And the strength of the tree exposed/The source, white and wet,/The
most sensitive hidden/For years inside the earth.
 a. In order to kill a tree, it has to be_____. (pulled out/uprooted).
b. The ____ are the most sensitive and hidden part of the tree. (roots)
c. The color of the roots of the tree is dark brown. (False)
d. ‘Anchoring earth’ in the above stanza implies that the ___ holds the __ of
the trees.
(earth/roots)
[Link] a critical appreciation of the poem.
The poem itself is modeled as a plant growing from the seed. The first line
states ‘it takes much time to kill a tree’. Then, the process of growth of the
tree is described. It is is presumed that the tree has grown from its seed.
The seed develops the root which works its way through the rocks and
stones of the soil. The tree grows slowly by feeding upon the earth’s crust
absorbing years of sunlight, air and water. There is a fight during the
development of the tree which is suggested in the poem. The survival of the
tree, in spite of the efforts to kill it, is shown by the lines ‘And from close to
the ground.’