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The most sensitive, hidden
for years inside the earth.

3. Metaphor: indirect comparison
Leprous hide - the uneven colour of the surface of the trunk of a
tree is compared to the skin of a person suffering from leprosy.

Bleeding bark - the sap coming out of tree where it is cut is
compared to the bleeding from the wound in a human’s body.

4. Alliteration: repetition of a consonant sound in 2 or more closely
places words.
Bleeding bark - ‘b’ sound
White and wet - ‘w’ sound

5. Repetition: a word or sentence is repeated to lay emphasis on it.
‘Pulled out’ is repeated

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.
Once the roots are detached, the tree starts dying, It withers, dries
up with the action of heat and wind, twists, hardens and finally,
dies.

NCERT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ( to be done be note book)

1. Can a “simple jab of the knife” kill a tree? Why not?
A. No, a simple jab of the knife cannot kill a tree. The place from where
the tree is cut will give out sap and once the wound heals, new branches
and leaves will grow from it which will develop into trees.