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The Trees

Philip Larkin

The trees are coming into leaf

Like something almost being said;The recent buds (inmuguresc) relax and spread,

Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again

And we grow old? No, they die too,

Their yearly trick of looking new

Is written down in rings of grain (bob, graunte).

Yet still the unresting castles thresh (a treiera)In fullgrown thickness (des, stufos) every May.

Last year is dead, they seem to say,

Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

English poet, novelist, and critic, a leading figure of 'The Movement,' term coined to describe a group of British

poets that coalesced during the 1950s, about the same time as the rise of the 'Angry Young Men'. 'The Movement'

poets addressed everyday British life in plain, straightforward language and often in traditional forms. It first

attracted attention with the publication of the anthologyNew Lines, edited by Robert Conquest.

Philip Larkin was born in Coventry. His father, Sydney, was the city treasurer, who admired Hitler.

Larkin was educated at King Henry VIII School where he wrote for the school magazine. At the age of 18 he

entered St. John's College, Oxford. He studied English, met Kingsley Amis, listened to jazz, and was known as a

bookish dandy. During World War II he was exempted from service because of bad eyes. After graduating he

became a librarian, first in the library of an urban district council in Shropshire, later in university libraries in

Leicester and Belfast. From 1955 until his death he was the librarian of the Brynmor Jones library at the University

of Hull, which he built up a staff of eleven to over 100.

Approach

This a poem dedicated to nature, that never dies, and in every year she is reborn

We can include this lyrics in the poems category of grief and trees.

such a refreshing poem inspires us to start turn a new leaf.

When you have a sad moment in life, this poem can give the inspiration to carry

on and look to the future, rather than the past.The poem is about rebirth and not dwelling on the past. In the poem, the speaker

describes the budding of the trees in springtime and how, even though every year

the trees look fresh and young, they do get older and its written down in rings

of grain.

Far from being the unromantic poet of urban grimness, in the poem The Trees,

Larkin is offering something redemptive in loneliness and solitude among nature.

Examples of imagery the poet uses in the poem are visual imagery: Their recent

buds relax, and spread. This creates an image in the readers mind of buds on the

tree, opening up and welcoming Spring. The poet uses irony: Is it that they areborn again, and we grow old? No they die too, Their yearly trick of looking new is

written down in wrings of grain. This shows that although, each year trees give an

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impression of new life and rebirth but in reality they are ageing. There is also irony

in the way Larkin shows the way that the trees stand tall and proud Yet still the

unresting castles thresh And finally, he uses auditory: Begin afresh, afresh,

afresh. In this line, you can almost hear the trees blowing in the wind. This quote

could also be classified as visual but auditory is all around a better fit.The tone of this poem is both optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.

Meaning, in the second stanza of the poem, Larkin does a very good job of giving

you the pessimistic opinion of life and in the third stanza he gives you the

optimistic. He helps the pessimistic argument in the line Is it that they are born

again, and we grow old? the second part of this line is No, they die too. Their

yearly trick of looking new is written down in rings of grain. While these are both

pessimistic, the first one is more ironic and bitter while the second is more

depressing and acknowledgeable. Another pessimistic argument is Their

greenness is a kind of grief. Meaning that humans see the cheerful and healthy

green of the trees and they are jealous of how it seems that the trees get to have a

new life and start over while they are restricted to the one they lead. To help out

the optimistic argument is the line Yet still the unresting castles thresh, in full

grown thickness every May. This shows the trees real fight for life and how they

accept the fact that they are getting older but they take what is given to them and

stand tall against any and all odds. And Last year is dead, they seem to say. Begin

afresh, afresh, afresh. Shows how you put the past behind you and not dwell on it.

This poem does have many significant themes but the most important is that life is

precious, dont waste it with the past. With the words: Last year is dead, theyseem to say. Begin afresh, afresh, afresh. The poet tries to convey to the reader

the fact that past mistakes mean nothing and that everyone has a chance to start

over and make things right. He [the poet] uses many inspirational lines in this

poem but one example is: Yet still the unresting castles thresh, in full grown

thickness every May. Showing how that humans should all take an example from

the trees and live life to its fullest, since we only have one.

Overall, The Trees is an excellent poem with a very nice message. I greatly enjoy

reading it and I do recommend it to others.

His poems were firmly set in the world of buses, billboards, bedsits and boredom.And yet, and yet... despite all this, he wrote some lines which forever echo in my

mind. And the solitary, gloomy persona in his poems was not, by all accounts, the

irreverent, sociable man he was in reality. To add to these contradictions, I'd

suggest that by dwelling on the mundane and the everyday, he revealed essential

truths about life, the universe and everything.

His poems offer little in the way of comfort or escape from the dreary realities of

life. He confronts and exposes the deceptions behind the gloss, the death that

awaits us all. Believe it or not, thats why I enjoy his poetry. His unflinching

honesty, his seeking after truth, and his ability to endure the harshness of that truth,is oddly inspiring.

Leaves, trees, growth and decay are recurring images, suggesting that being part

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of natural processes is the nearest we can come to a purpose for our existence.

We can never lose the essence of what this poem actually means.

About Simbolic Signification of Trees

Tree in Persian culture has symbolic signification. According to Zoroastrian

mythology, the seed of the first man (Gayomart), grew as a plant which turned into

the first human couple. The fruit of the tree symbolized the races of mankind and

they finally assumed human form.

In Zoroastrian religious texts, it has been mentioned that Gardens of Paradise are

adorned with the blossoming trees and multi-coloured flowers and eternal springs.

The cypress is an ancient Aryan symbol of immortality and the conception of it is

the most essential in Zoroastrian religion. This tree was considered especially

sacred, a symbol of Ahura, Mazda. In the Manichaean religion also, the kingdom

of light and darkness or prince of good and evil are symbolized by two trees of life

and death. The Tree of life is decorated with all that is beautiful and is illuminatedwith all good things. In Manichaean belief the kingdom of light is ornamented

with flowers.