The Trees

- Compare cycle of trees to human experience

- Draws a connection between the anatomy and activity of tree to the
emotions and philosophy of a human opening and closing various
chapter in his/her life

1st paragraph
- rhyme scheme ABBA- regularity about the loss of trees coming
again to life
suggest its consistency of trees
- reflects cyclic nature of the trees and the awareness that death still
exists in this world of renewal and rebirth- coming into leaf every
spring only to lose their leaves in the autumn
- establish the theme of rebirth, not dwelling on the past
- message of Larkin: keep on looking for the wider future, rather than
the past

2nd paragraph

personification
their yearly trick of looking new is written down in rings of grain
- Larkin is honest and seeks for truth
- written down might be suggesting that it acts as a permanent
record on the trees rings, once they are written down it is not
possible to erase them after all (revealing the truth behind their
yearly tricks, which is the appearance of looking young, BUT
actually growing old)

irony

their greenness is a kind of grief

- we only see the surface of the color of trees and we interpret them
as being healthy and cheerful and we are jealous about their ability
of renewal. However, the poet drives reader to a further in-depth
interpretations of why their greenness is grief
-
is it that they are born again and we grow old
- gives an impression that although the leaves give an impression of
new life and rebirth but in reality they are ageing, this can be seen
on their rings of grain

3rd paragraph
change in tone (from pessimistic to optimistic)

YET still the unresting castles threshevery May

- yet suggests a change
 - trees fight for their life and how they accept the fact that they are
getting olderbut they take what is given to them and stand all
against any or all odds
- poet tries to convince us that we should all take example from the
trees and live our lives to the fullest, since we only have one
- admiration and respect towards tree in the way they grow to their
full thickness at their month despite they are ageing and becoming
older
- poets unflinching honesty, seeking for truth, and his ability of
enduring the harshness of that truth

Last year is dead, they seem to say

- giving the human characteristic as if they have human-like
awareness, they know how to deal with life and death
- instead of being dragged to the past, they intend to move on and
accept their rings of grain
- they are optimistic and always look at bright side of life (find out the
truth of age and deal with it), the time spent on mourning can be
used to begin afresh not wasting life because life is consisted of
time

onomatopoeia and repetition of word afresh

- emphasize the continuance of the nature, cycle of life
- optimistic tone, sounds like when the leaves are rustled by the wind
(clean, crisp, warm)
- soft and gentle
- we should move forward and confront the challenges and obstacles
in our life