This poem starts out describing how humans view a tree; the beauty that people find in trees but then shifts to the actual purpose of the elements of a tree. It is reminding the reader that the tree has a purpose and it is not there to just be a pleasing sight. It says the "the aspen glitters," "and that delights us," but then says "the leaf flutters, turning, because that motion in the heat of summer protects its cells from drying out." It is stating practical reasons for the actions that we see taken by the tree. The tree does certain things to survive, not to amuse us. It is to remind us that the tree is a living thing and not just an object. In poetry, we describe the tree in many different ways, often personifying it to take actions like dancing and other human activities and that is the power of language. But there are also limits on what language can do. It can't completely describe what we see and feel and what the tree did and why. It describes whatever the writer or speaker was able to communicate through words. It would be a different description by everyone, even though the tree and it's actions never changed.
In the second half of the poem, it takes a dramatic shift. First, Hass rejects what he's saying by making statements and then directly after both saying "No." The only reason a poet would state something and then contradict himself by saying no directly after is because he is stating common thoughts or views and proving to the reader right away that they are false. This is why he goes on to saying that "there are limits to saying in language, what the tree did," because humans would give a generic description of this tree and it would explain what they see but it would not entirely discuss what is going on. It wouldn't describe why the tree takes those actions.
It's true. Trees don't perform for our entertainment. What a human-centered claim that would be -- that is -- if we felt that the tree danced to make us happy.
ReplyDeleteI'm noticing here that you have a lot of extra little words -- like "this is why" or "goes on to say" -- you might think of deleting and trimming your writing just a bit more. Concision is really beneficial for reader comprehension.
Professor Lay,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the advice. I'll make sure on my next post to trim out these unnecessary phrases because as a reader, these phrases do cause me to lose focus most of the time.
You bring up very good points. I like how focused you are on that fact the the tree has its own mind and thinks differently then we do. I like your point where every writer would have a different description if they were to see that, and i think that is what is causing him to reject what he is saying right after he says it.
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