NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem – The Trees

Thinking About the Poem

(i) Find, in the first stanza, three things that cannot happen in a treeless forest.

(ii) What picture do these words create in your mind: “… sun bury its feet in shadow…”? What could the poet mean by the sun’s ‘feet’?

Ans:

(i) In a forest without trees, three things cannot happen: birds cannot sit on trees, insects cannot hide, and the sun cannot hide its rays in the forest’s shadow.

(ii) The term “feet” refers to the sun’s rays that touch the earth. Without trees, the rays fall directly on the ground, as there are no shadows. In a forest with trees, the rays are obscured by the shadows cast by the trees, giving the impression that the sun is concealing its feet.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem – The Trees

(i) Where are the trees in the poem? What do their roots, their leaves, and their twigs do?

(ii) What does the poet compare their branches to?

Ans:

(i) In the poem, the trees are stuck within the poet’s home. Their roots work throughout the night to break free from the gaps on the veranda floor. The leaves press hard against the glass, attempting to break it, while the little twigs stiffen with the effort.

(ii) The poet compares the branches to patients who have just been released from the hospital. The enormous branches are squeezed beneath the roof, and when they become free, they rush out fast, looking half-shocked like patients who have waited a long time to leave the hospital..

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem – The Trees

(i) How does the poet describe the moon:

(a) at the beginning of the third stanza, and

(b) at its end? What causes this change?

(ii) What happens to the house when the trees move out of it?

(iii) Why do you think the poet does not mention “the departure of the forest from the house” in her letters? (Could it be that we are often silent about important happenings that are so unexpected that they embarrass us? Think about this again when you answer the next set of questions).

Ans:

(i) At the beginning of the third verse, the poet depicts the full moon shining in the beautiful night skies. By the conclusion of the verse, she describes how the moon appears to be torn into fragments, gleaming on the tops of the tallest oak trees. As the trees shake, they hide some of the moon’s light, making it look like the moon has broken into pieces.

(ii) When the trees move out of the house, the windows break, and the whispers of the trees disappear, leaving the house quiet.

(iii) The poet seldom mentions “the trees leaving the house” in her writings since people did not care about nature in the first place. The poet may believe that no one would be interested in the trees’ attempts to liberate themselves. If humans cared for trees, they would not have damaged them. It appears that only the poet can see and appreciate the beauty of the trees returning to the forest.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem – The Trees

4. Now that you have read the poem in detail, we can begin to ask what the poem might mean. Here are two suggestions. Can you think of others?

(i) Does the poem present a conflict between man and nature? Compare it with A Tiger in the Zoo. Is the poet suggesting that plants and trees, used for ‘interior decoration’ in cities while forests are cut down, are ‘imprisoned’, and need to ‘break out’?

(ii) On the other hand, Adrienne Rich has been known to use trees as a metaphor for human beings; this is a recurrent image in her poetry. What new meanings emerge from the poem if you take its trees to be symbolic of this particular meaning?

Ans: Since a poem can have different meanings for different readers, and the poet can express two ideas with the same imagery, both interpretations are valid in the context of the poem:

(i) The poem depicts a fight between humanity and nature. Humans frequently hurt nature without understanding they are harming themselves. Cutting down woods for resources has lost much of nature’s beauty. Humans deprive trees of their natural habitat by confining them behind barriers. That’s why the trees desire to be free. Similarly, in the poem “A Tiger in the Zoo,” the author expresses how animals feel stuck in cages and long to be free and wild in the open.

(ii) If trees are metaphors for people, the poem might imply that humans, like trees, desire to be free of life’s constraints. Modern living, with all of its conveniences, has also contributed to moral degeneration. We’ve gotten busy, selfish, and greedy.

NCERT Solutions for Class 10 English First Flight Poem – The Trees

5. You may read the poem ‘On Killing a Tree’ by Gieve Patel (Beehive – Textbook in English for Class IX, NCERT). Compare and contrast it with the poem you have just read.

Ans: Contrast:

‘On Killing a Tree’ focuses on destruction, demonstrating how people destroy nature, but ‘The Trees’ discusses rebirth, depicting trees fleeing imprisonment and returning to the wilderness.
The tone of ‘On destroying a Tree’ is solemn and introspective, emphasizing the cruelty of destroying a tree. In contrast, ‘The Trees’ has a cheerful and liberated tone as the trees wander through the forest.
‘On Killing a Tree’ stresses nature’s power and tenacity in the face of human intervention, whereas ‘The Trees’ concentrates on nature recovering its place and reestablishing equilibrium.

Comparison:

Both poems give trees human-like qualities and emotions.
They highlight the complex relationship between humans and nature, but from different angles—destruction versus liberation.
Both poems make readers think about how human actions affect the natural world and the inherent value of nature.

In conclusion, while ‘On Killing a Tree’ stresses the brutality and effort required to hurt nature, ‘The Trees’ praises nature’s resilience and liberty as it strives to heal itself. Both poems, with their distinct views, invite readers to consider their relationship with the environment.