The Cherry Tree
Eight years have passed
Since I placed my cherry seed in the grass.
“Must have a tree of my own,” I said,
And watered it once and went to bed
And forgot; but cherries have a way of growing,
Though no one’s caring very much or knowing.
And suddenly that summer near the end of May,
I found a tree had come to stay.
It was very small, five months child,
Lost in the tall grass running wild.
Goats ate the leaves, the grass cutter scythe
Split it apart and a monsoon blight
Shrivelled the slender stem…… Even so,
Next spring I watched three new shoots grow,
The young tree struggle, upward thrust
Its arms in a fresh fierce lust
For light and air and sun.
I could only wait, as one
Who watched, wandering, while Time and the rain
Made a miracle from green growing pain…….
I went away next year-
Spent a season in Kashmir-
Came back thinner, rather poor,
But richer by a cherry tree at my door.
Six feet high my own dark cherry,
And I could scarcely believe it-a berry.
Ripened and jeweled in the sun,
Hung from a branch-just one!
And next year there were blossoms small
Pink, fragile, quick to fall
At the merest breath, the sleepiest breeze. …..
I lay on the grass, at ease,
Looking up through leaves at the blue
Blind sky, at the finches as they flew
And flitted through the dappled green.
While bees in an ecstasy drank
Of nectar from each bloom and the sun sank
Swiftly, and the stars turned in the sky,
And moon-moths and singing crickets and l
Yes, I! — praised Night and Stars and tree:
That small, the cherry, grown by me.
The poem “Cherry Tree” is penned by Ruskin Bond who is a nature lover. The title “Cherry Tree” indicates the relation with nature.
The poet has spent his life in the beautiful hills of Missouri which has provided him great help to write many books with stories and poems. This poem is a child growing over the years. Similarly he observed the cherry tree growing in his garden and feels contented about it.
This poem is interesting as there is flow chart which one can visualize in the growth of the cherry tree. Here the rhyme scheme is aa,bb,cc. There are many run on lines where the end of the line does not indicate the end of the sentence but the sentence continues on the next line. There is a sensory imaginary of sight and sound. The poet has used simple language for the readers to understand and enjoy.
The figure of speech which are used here mainly are alliteration, personification etc. This makes the poem more enjoyable and particularly personification makes the Cherry Tree very dear to the readers.
This poem awares the readers to take are of nature maintain environmental imbalance which an make us rich. The poem kindles a great hope for future with greenery all over. The poem has another message that inspires the reader to live hopefully in severe situations also.
