The Heart of the Tree Class 9a

The Heart of the Tree by Henry Cuyler Bunner

 Listen to the poem:

Major themes:

1)    The poet headlines the importance of planting trees for the growth of a nation.

2)    He emphasizes the difference even one single person can make by planting a tree.

3)    The tree is described as a resource almost to the point where it appears to personify the characteristics of a good citizen.

Stanza 1:

Theme: The tree is an important part of the ecosystem and gives balance to nature.

What does he plant who plants a tree?

Each stanza begins with this rhetorical question (a question that has the answer in a question itself). Followed by the poet listing all the positive aspects of planting a tree.

He plants a friend of sun and sky:

The tree is personified as a friend of the other parts of nature. Constantly aiming for the sky. Thereby constantly aiming upwards. 

He plants the flag of breezes free:

The use of the word ‘flag’ shows how a tree represents the breeze and nature the same way a flag represents a country. It also shows us how the movement of tree gives a cool breeze to us humans.

The shaft of beauty, towering high:

Shaft (a column, especially the main part between the base and the top) this line highlights that a tree also is a symbol of natural beauty.

He plants a home to heaven anigh;

For song and mother-croon of bird

He who plants a tree plants a home high in the sky and close enough to heaven for a mother bird to make a safe nest and sing to the baby birds she has chosen to raise in the tree. Thus showing how the tree provides safety to animals.

The word croon means singing.

 Anigh means close to heaven.

In hushed and happy twilight heard

The treble of heaven’s harmony

The use of alliteration (close repetition of consonant sounds, usually at the beginning of words) in these two lines creates a musical quality in the poem. The quiet stillness of the time either before sunrise or after sunset the rustling of the tree’s leaves and the sounds of the birds singing in the trees indicates that tree creates a scene of music that is itself the sounds of heaven on earth.

Twilight (the period of the evening when twilight is visible, between daylight and darkness.)

Hushed ((of a place) very quiet and still.)

Treble (Music: a high-pitched voice, especially a boy's singing voice.

Example: "The boy replied in a shrill treble")

These things he plants who plants a tree.

At the end of each stanza, this statement by the poet drives home the point that the single act of planting a tree adds a great deal more riches to the environment and eco-system. Serving to also beautify the land.

Stanza 2

Theme: In this stanza, the tree is a provider of resources to mankind.

What does he plant who plants a tree (refer first stanza notes)

He plants cool shade and tender rain

In order to encourage the planting of tree the poet says the tree provides shade to all and helps to cause rain as trees are a part of the water cycle.

And seed and bud of days to be

The tree is described as being able to provide ‘seeds’ for future harvest and the bud symbolises the fact that the tree continues to provide for mankind even long into the future.

And years that fade and flush again

This refers to the leaves of a tree changing in spring, fading in autumn, shedding in winters and being ‘flush’ (flush means a period when something is new or particularly fresh and vigorous) with leaves again. This shows how a tree lives through many years and many seasons continuing to provide selflessly to all.

He plants the glory of the plain

‘He’ who plants a tree also adds to the beauty of the plains (a large area of flat land with very few trees.) Even without many trees, a single tree may add to the beauty of the place.

Example of a plain:

He plants the forest’s heritage

The constant reference to an unnamed ‘he’ in the poem means that ‘he’ who plants a tree can be anyone in the world who chooses to do so. In this line a person who plants a single tree may one day be responsible for having allowed a forest to grow up around that tree many years in the future.

Heritage (valued objects and qualities such as historic buildings and cultural traditions that have been passed down from previous generations). In this case, a single tree becomes the heritage of a forest in the future.

The harvest of a coming age;

A harvest is a gathering of crops long after the season of planting. Often when we plant a tree we may not see the benefits immediately or even in that planter’s lifetime. However, we can be sure that in the ‘coming age’ (the future) we may have plenty of food and resources to gain from planting trees today.

The joy that unborn eyes shall see

Unborn eyes refers to a generation who hasn’t even been born when a tree is planted but will certainly have lots to gain from tree planted by the people before them.

These things he plants who plants a tree

The last line repeats the same as the first stanza (refer stanza 1 notes)

The use of this type of line is called a refrain (a refrain in poetry is a repeated line or number of lines in a poem or song, typically at the end of each verse.)

Stanza 3:

Theme: This stanza highlights how a person who plants a tree is caring for his nation and showing patriotism

What does he plant who plants a tree? (See stanza 1 explanation)

   He plants, in sap and leaf and wood,

In love of home and loyalty

While it may appear that a person who plants a tree is only providing sap, leaves, and wood it is also a symbol of love for one’s countrymen and loyalty to his people. The sap and leaf and wood of a tree can always be used by others.

   And far-cast thought of civic good—

A person who plants a tree thinks of this act as his civic duty. This act is done for the good of society and has ‘far-cast’ or far-reaching good effects in the future. 

   His blessings on the neighborhood,

The planting of a tree is a blessing not for one person but for many.

      Who in the hollow of His hand

      Holds all the growth of all our land—

These lines refer to the fact that a person who plants a tree helps bring the blessings of God on the nation. The use of ‘His’ in this line is different from the earlier ones, the use of a capital ‘H’ signifying that it a reference to God. These two lines indicate that the planting of a tree is an act of God who loves his people and holds their growth and well-being in his hands the way a father would hold a child.

A nation's growth from sea to sea

Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

The person who plants a tree has the best interests of his people at heart. From coast to coast (perhaps a directs reference to the nation of America as theirs is a nation with a coast on either and the poet is an American poet (see below)

From the east coast to the west love for one’s country stirs (stir means feeling an emotion) in the heart of the person who chooses to plant trees.

Literary  devices

Alliteration –. Adding a musical poetic quality and sound

“He plants a friend of sun and sky”

1. “He plants a home to heaven anigh”
2. In hushed and happy twilight heart”
3. “He plants a flag of breezes free”

Metonymy – Metonymy is a literary device in which a thing is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing.

 In this poem, “cool shade”, “tender rain”, “sap and leaf and wood”, are all metonyms for the tree. In the first stanza, in the line “He plants a home to heaven anigh”, ‘heaven’ references the sky.

Transferred epithet – It is a figure of speech in which an adjective qualifies the noun and not the person or thing it is originally describing. For instance,

“In hushed and happy twilight heard”- Here the adjective “happy” is associated with twilight though it means people’s happiness. ‘Twilight’ is not happy, the ‘people’ are happy.

Metaphor – It is a figure of speech in which a similarity between two different things is implied but not directly stated. In this poem, The heart of the tree, the branches of a tree are compared to a flag. For instance, “He plants the flag of breezes free”.

Personification – It is a figure of speech in which abstract ideas or inanimate objects are given attributes of living beings. For instance, the poet personifies the tree when it calls it “a friend of sun and sky”. And this continues many times throughout the poem.

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

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.

(i)Explain how a tree is the ‘forest’s heritage’                    .[3]

(ii)What is meant by ‘mother-croon of bird’?
 How do birds sing? When do they sing?        [3]                                                               

(iii)What is the ‘treble of heaven’s harmony’?           [3]

(iv)How far is a tree ‘the harvest of a coming age’?     [3]

(v)What stirs the heart of a man who plants a tree? 
How does a tree planter do civic good?  [4]      

(Question Source: ICSE specimen papers)