SUMMARY OF THE POEM
It is a symbolic poem. It is a vague poem. In this poem, the tree is a symbol of evil which is very deep-rooted and can not be wiped off easily. The poet symbolizes evil as a tree. He says that merely cutting a tree will not kill it because it has the ability to sprout again after some time.
He says that a tree can not be killed by a simple jab of the knife. It has grown very slowly by feeding itself on the earth. It indicates that evil is also deeply rooted in the surroundings and can not be uprooted so easily without changing the environment.
For uprooting the tree, the poet says that we will have to tie the rope to it and then pull it out completely. Then it will come out of the cave and expose its white roots to the sunlight. After that the roots will get dry and the sun and the air will make the roots brown and hard. They will make it twist and wither slowly. Then only the tree will be killed.
Related Articles:
- NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Language & Literature
- NCERT Solutions for class 9th English Poetry On Killing a Tree