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into life by healing themselves in due course of time. One wonders if
humans can have that kind of attitude to life.

Title

The title of the poem is simple and appropriate as it contains the

major concern of the poet- merciless and callous felling of the trees. It
indicates appropriately that the poem is about the process of killing
the tree. The entire poem explains the view that killing of a tree is not

simple, short or easy process. Trees have tremendous strength and a
great instinct for survival.

Message

The poem conveys the message that trees are living beings just like

any other forms of life. They have strong survival instinct and can
withstand any type of assault, trauma or crisis. It is not easy to kill
them, for they have a never say die attitude to life. Every time they are
attacked, injured or scraped, they heal themselves and regain their

glory. However if they are uprooted and left in the air and sun, they
die. The trees must live have rights to live just as we humans do.

Summary

“On Killing a Tree” is a sensitive poem. The poet persuades the
reader not to destroy trees and equates it with “killing” a human
being. He says that a plant takes sunlight, water, air and nutrients
from the soil to gradually become a huge tree. It develops a strong
trunk and gets numerous leaves.
Merely cutting the trunk of the tree does not kill it. When a tree is cut,
the sap flows out just like a wounded man bleeds. Once the wound
heals, new branches and tiny leaves grow from there which grow into
trees.
In order to destroy a tree, it has to be uprooted. The roots which are
white in colour and are damp due to the moisture that they get from
the soil are hidden in a pit in the Earth. These roots are the most
sensitive part of the tree as they bind it to the earth. In order to kill the
tree, these roots have to be detached from the soil.