Poem Analysis

‘God is Great!’

I think I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree;

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the sweet earth’s flowing breast

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in summer wear

A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me.

But only God can make a tree.

        - Unknown Author -

My humble attempt towards the general meaning of the poem:

I think I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree has its ever hungry mouth (the roots) pressed against the earth for nourishment (just as a baby would press its mouth firmly against its mother’s breast).

A tree looks up (as the branches protrude upwards to the sky) at God the whole day long and has its arms (the branches) lifted up to pray. When summer arrives, she (the tree) bears a nest of robins in her hair (again branches); the very bosom on which snow had lain the last winter. What more? She shares an intimate relationship with even rain during the season.

Further analysis:

The whole poem is based around the central theme of the concept of a tree. The speaker seems to be rather awed with this creation and is full of admiration and praise for the tree to which he attributes the immense pleasure experienced by everything that surrounds its immediate environment.

He starts by assuring the reader almost completely that he ‘shall never see’ something. This very line: ‘I think I shall never see’ provokes the reader to read further to find what it is that he shall never see. This seems to be a good beginning to rouse the curiosity of the reader. 

In order to make the reader really feel the message the poet uses a lot of sensory images to create a mood that is appealing to the senses. For instance, in the second line he uses the word ‘lovely’ to make the tree more appealing to the visual sense. Words like ‘leafy’ in line 6 and ‘robins’ (which are pretty) in line 8 serve the same intention. The mention of robins quite charms the aural sense too, as these birds are associated with the lovely music of their song.

Rarely does a poet succeed in evoking more than two senses; but here we find that even the sense of touch is been stimulated. Almost everybody has at least second-hand experience of the warm tenderness of a baby’s suckling. In the third line the poet personifies the tree in that the tree’s roots that seep into the earth in search of nourishment are wholly compared to as a hungry mouth that is pressed against a breast suckling on it. The speaker is not content at just personifying and giving a life to earth, he goes on further to picture it as not only a life-supporter (in that the tree depends on it for nourishment), but also as caring and abundant and generous in its offer, as suggested by the words ‘sweet earth’s flowing breast’. The idea of a baby’s suckling not only stimulates the sense of touch and warmth, but also stimulates the sense of taste; as breast milk is renowned for its gratifying sweetness and succulence.

The fifth and sixth lines touch an entirely different spot. The tone creates a completely religious mood. It touches the very soul of a reader as the speaker makes out the tree to be such a dedicated and devout devotee. The fifth line ‘A tree that looks at God all day’ is effective to the extent that a reader could almost feel sorry for the tree for taking so much pain. The sixth line adds to it by creating peace and silence. One could visualise the peaceful status of a prayer who is completely silent and engrossed; oblivious of all other happenings.

The word ‘leafy’ in line six not only makes the reader visualise the beauty and richness of life, but also awakens a sense of colour; for leaves are easily associated with greenery, and hence green colour. Furthermore, the mention of ‘robins’ in line 8 and ‘snow’ in line 9 go a long way to serve the purpose of creating clear-cut colours; and hence making the poem more colourful and lively.

The sixth line ‘And lifts her leafy arms to pray’ creates a kinaesthetic image; since it brings to mind muscular tension that is felt with the lifting of one’s arms. This feeling is enhanced by the preceding line which informs the reader of time (how long); in this case the whole day long. The tree is visualised here as an unfailing prayer with raised arms looking up to God in her entreaty.

The seventh and eighth lines introduce the reader to another side of the tree. The virtuous tree is not only pious, but also accommodating and supportive in that she sustains an integral part of the robins’ lives by providing them a refuge for nestling and rearing their offspring. The picture one visualises here is that of a young girl who decorates her hair with colourful ribbons during the season of summer. The branches and leaves are symbolical of hair and the colourful robins are symbolical of colourful ribbons worn. Here ultimate symbiosis is demonstrated; the two (the tree and the robins) live in close proximity for the mutually advantageous association, the tree gets herself decorated for the summer and the robins get a home.

The ninth line again adds to the idea of the accommodative and supportive nature of the tree; for the speaker says ‘Upon whose bosom snow has lain’. The word ‘bosom’ means an emotional centre or the source of an enfolding relationship. It is easy for one to visualise the tender sight of a baby lying in its mother’s bosom. Furthermore, the mention of snow creates a thermal image for snow is associated with immense cold.

The tenth line adds to the adjustable and tolerant nature of the tree; by conveying to the reader that the tree is capable of sharing an intimate relationship even with rain.

The eleventh and twelfth lines draw a sharp and striking contrast between God and man. This epigram more than effectively puts forth that a poem can be made by even the ordinary earthlings (fools in terms of wits when compared to God), like the poet himself; but a tree can be made only by God, whose creative supremacy is incomparable to that of any of His creations including man.

Looking at the above analysis, one can justly state that the poet has succeeded in creating a timely picture and mood with the right combination of simple images. He introduces quite a number of characters and ideas through imagery. All the images are primarily those of life. He has combined these images to create a single stronger one which he helps the reader to visualise through meaningful comparisons. 

The poet hence thrives to suggest something beyond the scene itself. The poet’s search for the right fresh image and his ability to draw similarities between so tremendously unlike things are a vital part of his art. A lively collection of environment friendly and soothing objects have been effectively used to present a single central metaphor. The tree is tremendously personified in that a lot of human qualities are being attributed to it; tenderness, patience, virility, motherliness, sanctimony, adjustability, mobility and tolerance.

The fact that the central image, the tree is presented through concepts that can be associated with personal experiences makes the picture not only vivid but pleasant to the senses. For instance concepts like breast-feeding and praying can convey nothing but gratification. 

The poem consists of six couplets and each pair end-rhymes. The metrical scheme is not consistent throughout. That is except lines 1 and 10 which are trochaic all the lines are iambic and each line consists of four feet; each foot containing two syllables. This gives immediate joy as one can appreciate it even the first time one reads or hears it. Although the poet does not seem to have made a deliberate effort to use alliteration, the poem on the whole is quite musical with a lot of euphony like ‘lovely’, ‘breast’, ‘leafy’, ‘robins’ etc which are all very pleasing to the senses. In line 3 the speaker has used the archaic ‘prest’ most probably in an effort to make it rhyme better with ‘breast’ in the next line.

It is also noticed that the speaker uses a lot of metaphoric expressions; ‘hungry mouth’, ‘flowing breast’, ‘looks at God’, ‘lifts her leafy arms to pray’, ‘hair’, ‘bosom’ and ‘lives’ imply comparison between essentially different things, qualities, or actions, without direct indication of a relation between them. This enriches the language by identifying one object with another and ascribing to the first object one or more qualities of the second.

To wind it up, the scene created by the speaker is earthy, common, real and personal; yet much larger than life itself. Conclusively, the poem serves as a useful concrete representation of a basic abstract idea.