The Trees Are Down
By Charlotte Mew
—and he cried with a loud voice:
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees—
(Revelation)They are cutting down the great plane-trees at the end of the gardens.
For days there has been the grate of the saw, the swish of the branches as they fall,
The crash of the trunks, the rustle of trodden leaves,
With the ‘Whoops’ and the ‘Whoas,’ the loud common talk, the loud common laughs of the men, above it all.I remember one evening of a long past Spring
Turning in at a gate, getting out of a cart, and finding a large dead rat in the mud of the drive.
I remember thinking: alive or dead, a rat was a god-forsaken thing,
But at least, in May, that even a rat should be alive.The week’s work here is as good as done. There is just one bough
On the roped bole, in the fine grey rain,
Green and high
And lonely against the sky.
(Down now!—)
And but for that,
If an old dead rat
Did once, for a moment, unmake the Spring, I might never have thought of him again.It is not for a moment the Spring is unmade to-day;
These were great trees, it was in them from root to stem:
When the men with the ‘Whoops’ and the ‘Whoas’ have carted the whole of the whispering loveliness away
Half the Spring, for me, will have gone with them.It is going now, and my heart has been struck with the hearts of the planes;
Half my life it has beat with these, in the sun, in the rains,
In the March wind, the May breeze,
In the great gales that came over to them across the roofs from the great seas.
There was only a quiet rain when they were dying;
They must have heard the sparrows flying,
And the small creeping creatures in the earth where they were lying—
But I, all day, I heard an angel crying:
‘Hurt not the trees.’
Summary of The Trees Are Down
- Popularity of “The Trees Are Down”: Written by a great English poet having an impact on Victorian and Modern movements, this short poem “The Trees are Down” first appeared in 1929. However, it seems to have been written quite earlier, or perhaps in 1920. The poem is the direct expression of the poet’s observation of the cutting of trees in London Euston Square. The poet sees the workers playing havoc with the ecology and comes home to note down her observations and impressions. This is the reason behind the popularity of this poem.
- “The Trees Are Down” As a Representative of Concern for Nature: The poet refers to a Biblical passage as the epigraph of the poem showing her concern for cutting down trees. Using onomatopoeias, she shows that a group of men is cutting down trees mercilessly with their courageous whoa-who. The poet observes a rat losing its habitat and dying in the mayhem created by this cutting spree of the group of men. She ironically praises the work referring to it is “as good as done” by the rat that has lost its life in this whoa-who of the laborers, while the poet falls into a rumination about how the industrial progress with “hearts of the planes” have transformed weathers. The poet feels that with the creeping progress, the creatures are losing lives to this industrial spree and human progress and this cutting of trees is putting the last nail in the coffin of ecology in that even the angles warn about cutting trees.
- Major Themes in “The Trees Are Down”: Concern for ecology, the environment, destruction of the natural habitat of wildlife, and loss of nature are major themes of this poem. Although the title suggests that cutting down trees becomes a drawback for humanity later, it also shows that it imbalances the ecological balance. The concern for ecology and the environment shows that the poet hears and enjoys the sounds of this cutting down of trees but laments the loss of the natural habitat of the wild creatures. That is why she does not support this industrial progress in which nature is losing the competition. She knows that this desire of the angels that the trees should not be cut down would cost humanity dearly. That is why she refers to the Bible to suggest it implicitly that the world should take notice of this human destruction.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in The Trees Are Down
Charlotte Mew’s use of various literary devices to enhance the intended impact of his poem is quite apparent. Some of the major literary devices are analyzed below.
- Allusion: It means to use references from society, history, or culture to stress the main idea. The poet has used the allusion of Christianity, such as the epigraph, and allusions to geography, such as seasons and months.
- Alliteration: It means to use initial consonants in successive words. The sonnet shows the use of consonant sounds, such as /w/ in “week’s work” or /g/ in “great gales” or /c/ in “creeping creatures.”
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “They are cutting down the great plane-trees at the end of the gardens” and again the sound of /e/ in “They are cutting down the great plane-trees at the end of the gardens.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /w/ and /d / in “The week’s work here is as good as done” and the sound of /m/ and /d/ in “is not for a moment the Spring is unmade to-day.”
- Epigraph: It means to use extracts or quotes from some past works or classics to show its relevance to the contemporary world. The poet has used an epigraph from the Bible, such as;
—and he cried with a loud voice:
Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees—
(Revelation) Revelation 7:3
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Charlotte Mew used imagery in this poem, such as “These were great trees, it was in them from root to stem”, “Half the Spring, for me, will have gone with them” and “In the March wind, the May breeze.”
- Onomatopoeia: It means to use sounds of the things such as Whoops, Whoas, rustle, swish, and crash.
- Personification: It means to attribute human emotions to inanimate objects. The poet used the personification of rain due to its being quiet rain, as if it has life and emotions of its own.
- Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal meanings. The poem shows symbols, such as the rat, trees, or sounds of the people implying nature and its destruction.
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in The Trees Are Down
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Diction: It means the type of language. The poem shows good use of formal and poetic diction.
- Free Rhyme: It means to use verses without a metrical pattern or rhyme scheme. This poem is written in free verse.
- Stanza: A stanza is a poetic form of some lines. There are five stanzas with a different number of verses in each.
- Tone: It means the voice of the text. The sonnet shows an ironic, tragic, and advising tone.
Quotes to be Used
The following lines are useful to quote when talking about saving trees and life.
There was only a quiet rain when they were dying;
They must have heard the sparrows flying,
And the small creeping creatures in the earth where they were lying—
But I, all day, I heard an angel crying:
‘Hurt not the trees.’