MY TEACHER

MEANINGS:
1. Suffragette: a female advocate of the right of women to vote, especially
one who participated in protests in the United Kingdom in the early 20th
century.
2. Pacifist: a person who believes in pacifism or is opposed to war or to
violence of any kind.
3. Immeasurable: that cannot be measured.
4. Contrasts: differences
5. Porch: veranda, an exterior appendage to a building forming a covered
approach or vestibule to a door way.
6. Vague: not clear
7. Linger: to remain or stay on in a place longer than is usual or expected.
8. Prey: to exert a harmful or destructive influence
9. Languor: lack of energy, sluggishness
10. Radical socialist: political party in France that upheld the principles of
social justice.
11. Fog: a cloudlike mass or layer of minute water droplets or ice crystals
near the surface of the earth, appreciably reducing visibility.
12. Tangible: capable of being touched.
13. Plummet: fall or drop straight down at high speed.
14. Sounding-line: a weighted line with distances marked off at regular
intervals, used to measure the depth of water under a boat.
15. Grope: to search blindly or uncertainly
16. Reveal: to make known
17. Flushed: a blush; rosy glow
18. Tussle: to struggle or fight roughly or vigorously
19. Despair: loss of hope
20. Confound: confuse
21. Renew: to begin or take up again
22. Impatient: indicating lack of patience
23. Seize: to take hold of suddenly or forcibly
24. Regret: to think of with a sense of loss
25. Passionate: expressing, showing, or marked by intense or strong feeling;
emotional
26. Outburst: a sudden spell of activity, energy.
27. Sentiment: a mental feeling; emotion
28. Hearth: the floor of a fireplace, usually of stone, brick, etc., often
extending a short distance into a room.
29. Spout: to emit or discharge forcibly (a liquid, granulated substance, etc.)
in a stream or jet.
30. Hop: to spring or leap on one foot
31. Misty: obscure; vague, indistinct or blurred in form or outline.
32. Consciousness: awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts,
surroundings, etc.
33. Mystery: anything that is kept secret or remains unexplained or
unknown
34. Repentance: regret for any past action.
35. Honeysuckle: a widely distributed climbing with tubular flowers that are
typically fragrant and of two colors or shades, opening in the evening for
pollination by moths.

Note:
“like Aaron’s rod, with flowers”: reference to the Bible. Aaron was the brother of
Moses. His blossoming rod, or staff signified that his tribe was to be the priest of
Israelites.
Moses is best known from the story in the biblical Book of Exodus and Quran as
the lawgiver who met God face-to-face on Mount Sinai to receive the Ten
Commandments after leading his people, the Hebrews, out of bondage in Egypt
and to the "promised land" of Canaan.
Anne Sullivan: Anne Suvillan, born in 1866 in Massachusetts to poor Irish
immigrants, suffered from the eye disease trachoma, which left her nearly blind
as a child.
In 1880, she enrolled at the Perkins School, where she was taught to read and
write. She underwent surgery to correct her vision and went on to graduate as
the class valedictorian in 1886, after which she became a tutor at the school and
at the age of 20 went on to become the tutor to Helen Keller.
Laura Bridgman: is known as the first deaf-blind American child to gain significant
education in the English language, fifty years before Helen Keller. She was
educated at the Perkin’s Institute for the Blind.

HEART OF THE TREE

MEANINGS
1.Refrain: A refrain (from Latin refringere, "to repeat") is the line or lines that are
repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song.The poem ‘The Heart of
the Tree’ comprises three stanzas of 9 lines each. The poem begins with a refrain
‘What does he plant who plants a tree?’ that is repeated at the beginning of
each stanza highlighting the thought that, how beneficial it is to plant a tree. The
line "What does he plant who plants a tree?" is repeated in the poem for poetic
effect. This type of figure of speech is called Hypophora. In this type of figure of
speech, the poet asks a question and answers it himself.
2.Shaft: a long pole
3.Towering: very high or tall; lofty:
4.Anigh: near; close to.
5.Heaven Anigh: the beautiful song seems to come from heaven as the birds are
high up in the tree and since the birds sing at twilight, it seems like heaven at
night.
6.Mother-croon: song that the mother bird sings to her young one.
7.Hushed: deliberately quiet
8.Twilight: the time of sunset
9.Treble: a high note of music
10.Harmony: agreement
11.Heaven’s harmony: Birds build their nests high up in the tree. When the
mother bird sings it can be referred to as “heaven's harmony”
12.Days to be: Future
13.Fade: to lose brightness or vividness of colour.
14.Flush: a rushing or overspreading flow, as of water.
15.Glory: something that is a source of honor, fame, or admiration; a
distinguished ornament or an object of pride
16.Heritage: something that is handed down from the past, as a tradition.
17. Forest’s heritage: The trees are called the legacy or forest heritage because
trees and plants give the clean environment and things for our livelihood. Trees
give the shelter to the animals also.
18.Harvest: the season when ripened crops are gathered.
19."The harvest of a coming age" is basically being referred to the forthcoming
generation which would be using the various resources given by the trees and will
be taking all the advantages of planting trees.
20.Coming age: days ahead
21.Unborn eyes: indicates the children or the babies which are yet to born or are
not born. They will see the trees which were planted by their parents or
grandparents. Babies are referred to by eyes, Hence it is a synecdoche (a part of
the body referring to the whole).
22.Sap: the juice or vital circulating fluid of a plant, especially of a woody plant.
23.Far Cast Thought of civic good: means thoughtfulness for the good of the
community. The action of the tree planter shows his vision for the future when
people will benefit from the sap, leafs and wood of the trees he had planted with
much love and dedication.
24.Civic good: means the good of the society. A tree planter plants a tree which
gives cool shade, rain and is beneficial to the environment. Hence the tree planter
is responsible for nurturing the environment. The tree also helps man in other
ways and provides many useful things
25.Hollow: having a space or cavity inside; not solid; empty
'Hollow of his hand' means the palm of his hand where one is most protected. So,
it brings a sense that the man doesn’t want to risk the growth of the land by
allowing it to slip out of his hand.
26."A nation's growth from sea to sea. ... This means that one who plants a tree
would bring blessings and that helps in the nation's growth.
SUMMARY:
The ‘Heart of the Tree' is a meaningful poem with a message that the one who
plants a tree not only contributes to the betterment of nature for all the other
creatures but he also helps in nation's growth. The simple poem tells us about the
beautiful connection man can have with nature, if he plants a tree.
FIRST STANZA:
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants a friend of sun and sky;
The poem opens with the refrain which asks “What does he plant who plants a
tree?” and that sets the tone for the entire poem. We instantly realize that the
poet is going to explain the usefulness of planting a tree. However, the poet
himself answers by stating that the man plants a friend of sun and sky by planting
a tree.
A plant grows upwards and aims to reach the sun and the sky. So it is as if the sun
and the sky get a new friend in a tree. Secondly, the tree needs sunlight and air to
survive. And finally, the trees seem to absorb the heat and save the earth from
the scorching sun, giving an implication that the sun becomes friendly in the
presence of the trees.
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty towering high;
The speaker now adds that the man plants a flag that flies freely in the mild
breeze. The poet here compares the leafy branches of the tree to a flag and the
stem to the beautiful shaft (pole) of the flag that stands tall.
He plants a home to heaven a nigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird.
By planting a tree, the man plants a home for the sweet singing birds high in the
sky, near the heaven. So, he keeps the earth habitable for birds and helps in
maintaining the eco-system.
In hushed and happy twilight heard—
The treble of heaven’s harmony—
These things he plants who plants a tree.
In quiet and happy twilight, we can hear those birds chirping which is harmonious
to heaven’s own tunes.
In the entire first stanza of ‘The Heart of the Tree’, the poet highlights the
importance of trees in maintaining the holistic beauty of nature. Moreover, the
use of words like ‘heaven anigh’, ‘heaven’s harmony’ and ‘towering high’ is aimed
at giving an impression that the work of planting a tree is indeed a heavenly and
glorious deed.
The finishing line of the stanza forms a logical whole with the opening line, one
asking a question and the other completing the answer.
SECOND STANZA:
What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
So, the poet repeats the question to begin a new stanza and attempts to answer
again in the subsequent lines. The tree he plants provides us with cool shade and
helps in bringing rain.
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
A tree will produce seed and bud in future. Years will pass silently but the tree will
remain there through its seeds producing new trees.
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest’s heritage;

Trees are the main elements that make a plain area green and beautiful. So the
poet describes trees as ‘the glory of the plain’. Moreover, today’s single tree may
turn into a forest someday. So by planting a tree now the man plants a ‘forest’s
heritage’.
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see—
These things he plants who plants a tree.

The speaker mentions that planting a tree today would give fruits in coming days.
Our next generations would be delighted seeing so much vegetation and reap its
benefits. So all the credit goes to the man who plants a tree.

In this stanza of the poem, The Heart of the Tree, the poet stresses on the
importance of planting a tree for making this earth a better living place for future
generations.

Third stanza

What does he plant who plants a tree?

He plants in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good—
His blessings on the neighbourhood,

By planting a tree the man shows his love and loyalty for this earth (his home), his
sense of civic duty and his blessings on the neighbourhood. All these are reflected
in the ‘sap and leaf and wood’, that is in every cell of the tree.

Who in the hollow of His hand

holds all the growth of all our land—
A nation’s growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

By planting a tree the man directly or indirectly contributes to the nation’s

growth. When a tree is planted, it sets in motion the progress of a nation from sea
to sea. And all these start from the progressive thought in the man’s heart who
plants a tree.

The capitalization in ‘His’ indicates that the man who plants a tree is all-powerful
and the destiny-maker of a nation.
This last line is very important as it talks about the man’s heart, his feelings,
dreams and wishes behind planting the tree. This also leads to the poem’s title
‘The Heart of the Tree’.

Thus the poet Henry Cuyler Bunner ends up composing an uncommon piece of
poetry in ‘The Heart of the Tree’ out of a common and cliché topic – the
usefulness of planting a tree.

Analysis

In the first stanza the poet explains that one who plants a tree plants a friend of
sun and sky, flag of free breezes and home to countless birds whose song we hear
in the twilight that denotes heaven’s harmony. In the second stanza the poet
emphasizes that he plants shade and rain, seeds and buds of tomorrow which
would raise the glory of earth in plains and strengthen the forests to benefit
generations ahead. In the third stanza he concludes one who plants a tree
germinates the far-cast thought that would bring blessings resulting in growth of
the nation.

The poem discusses the usefulness of a tree elaborating on how a tree that is
planted benefits not only the nature, a nation, but also contributes to the growth
of humankind. One who plants a tree aspires for his nation’s growth. Trees stand
straight and steady, giving an impression as if they are touching the sun and the
sky. They sway with the breeze and beautify the surrounding. They are home to
chirruping birds which sing sweetly and display heaven’s harmony on this earth.

Trees give us shade and bring rain. They pave a way for many more seeds to grow
and buds to bloom in future. Trees contribute to forest wealth of our nation and
they ensure plenty harvest in the days to come. The one who plants a tree has a
noble thought of a common good that would be a boon for man in general and
the nation in particular. He has a dream of the growth of all his land when he
plants a tree.