The Trees

Philip Larkin
The trees are coming into leaf
Like something almost being said;
The recent buds (inmuguresc) relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief.

Is it that they are born again

And we grow old? No, they die too,
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain (bob, graunte).

Yet still the unresting castles thresh (a treiera)

In fullgrown thickness (des, stufos) every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

English poet, novelist, and critic, a leading figure of 'The Movement,' term coined to describe a group of British
poets that coalesced during the 1950s, about the same time as the rise of the 'Angry Young Men'. 'The Movement'
poets addressed everyday British life in plain, straightforward language and often in traditional forms. It first
attracted attention with the publication of the anthology New Lines, edited by Robert Conquest.
Philip Larkin was born in Coventry. His father, Sydney, was the city treasurer, who admired Hitler.
Larkin was educated at King Henry VIII School where he wrote for the school magazine. At the age of 18 he
entered St. John's College, Oxford. He studied English, met Kingsley Amis, listened to jazz, and was known as a
bookish dandy. During World War II he was exempted from service because of bad eyes. After graduating he
became a librarian, first in the library of an urban district council in Shropshire, later in university libraries in
Leicester and Belfast. From 1955 until his death he was the librarian of the Brynmor Jones library at the University
of Hull, which he built up a staff of eleven to over 100.

Approach
This a poem dedicated to nature, that never dies, and in every year she is reborn
We can include this lyrics in the poems’ category of grief and trees.
such a refreshing poem inspires us to start turn a new leaf.
When you have a sad moment in life, this poem can give the inspiration to carry
on and look to the future, rather than the past.
The poem is about rebirth and not dwelling on the past. In the poem, the speaker
describes the budding of the trees in springtime and how, even though every year
the trees look fresh and young, they do get older and it’s “…written down in rings
of grain”.
Far from being the unromantic poet of urban grimness, in the poem The Trees,
Larkin is offering something redemptive in loneliness and solitude among nature.
Examples of imagery the poet uses in the poem are visual imagery: “Their recent
buds relax, and spread.” This creates an image in the readers mind of buds on the
tree, opening up and welcoming Spring. The poet uses irony: “Is it that they are
born again, and we grow old? No they die too, Their yearly trick of looking new is
written down in wrings of grain.” This shows that although, each year trees give an
impression of new life and rebirth but in reality they are ageing. There is also irony
in the way Larkin shows the way that the trees stand tall and proud “Yet still the
unresting castles thresh…” And finally, he uses auditory: “Begin afresh, afresh,
afresh.” In this line, you can almost hear the trees blowing in the wind. This quote
could also be classified as visual but auditory is all around a better fit.
The tone of this poem is both optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.
Meaning, in the second stanza of the poem, Larkin does a very good job of giving
you the pessimistic opinion of life and in the third stanza he gives you the
optimistic. He helps the pessimistic argument in the line “Is it that they are born
again, and we grow old?” the second part of this line is “No, they die too. Their
yearly trick of looking new is written down in rings of grain”. While these are both
pessimistic, the first one is more ironic and bitter while the second is more
depressing and acknowledgeable. Another pessimistic argument is “Their
greenness is a kind of grief”. Meaning that humans see the cheerful and healthy
green of the trees and they are jealous of how it seems that the trees get to have a
new life and start over while they are restricted to the one they lead. To help out
the optimistic argument is the line “Yet still the unresting castles thresh, in full
grown thickness every May.” This shows the trees real fight for life and how they
accept the fact that they are getting older but they take what is given to them and
stand tall against any and all odds. And “Last year is dead, they seem to say. Begin
afresh, afresh, afresh.” Shows how you put the past behind you and not dwell on it.

This poem does have many significant themes but the most important is that life is
precious, don’t waste it with the past. With the words: “Last year is dead, they
seem to say. Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.” The poet tries to convey to the reader
the fact that past mistakes mean nothing and that everyone has a chance to start
over and make things right. He [the poet] uses many inspirational lines in this
poem but one example is: “Yet still the unresting castles thresh, in full grown
thickness every May.” Showing how that humans should all take an example from
the trees and live life to its fullest, since we only have one.
Overall, The Trees is an excellent poem with a very nice message. I greatly enjoy
reading it and I do recommend it to others.
His poems were firmly set in the world of buses, billboards, bedsits and boredom.
And yet, and yet... despite all this, he wrote some lines which forever echo in my
mind. And the solitary, gloomy persona in his poems was not, by all accounts, the
irreverent, sociable man he was in reality. To add to these contradictions, I'd
suggest that by dwelling on the mundane and the everyday, he revealed essential
truths about life, the universe and everything.
His poems offer little in the way of comfort or escape from the dreary realities of
life. He confronts and exposes the deceptions behind the gloss, the death that
awaits us all. Believe it or not, that’s why I enjoy his poetry. His unflinching
honesty, his seeking after truth, and his ability to endure the harshness of that truth,
is oddly inspiring.
Leaves, trees, growth and decay are recurring images, suggesting that being part
of natural processes is the nearest we can come to a purpose for our existence.
We can never lose the essence of what this poem actually means.
About Simbolic Signification of Trees
“Tree” in Persian culture has symbolic signification. According to Zoroastrian
mythology, the seed of the first man (Gayomart), grew as a plant which turned into
the first human couple. The fruit of the tree symbolized the races of mankind and
they finally assumed human form.
In Zoroastrian religious texts, it has been mentioned that Gardens of Paradise are
adorned with the blossoming trees and multi-coloured flowers and eternal springs.
The cypress is an ancient Aryan symbol of immortality and the conception of it is
the most essential in Zoroastrian religion. This tree was considered especially
sacred, a symbol of Ahura, Mazda. In the Manichaean religion also, the kingdom
of light and darkness or prince of good and evil are symbolized by two trees of life
and death. The Tree of life is decorated with all that is beautiful and is illuminated
with all good things. In Manichaean belief “the kingdom of light” is ornamented
“with flowers”.