When Great Trees Fall Summary and Explanation | ICSE Class 10 English

by | Mar 4, 2024 | General | 0 comments

 

When Great Trees Fall Summary

 

ICSE Class 10 English When Great Trees Fall Summary and Poem Explanation with difficult word meanings


When Great Trees Fall – Are you looking for Summary and Explanation for ICSE Class 10 English Poem When Great Trees Fall from Treasure Chest (A Collection of ICSE Poems and Short Stories) book. Get notes, summary of the poem followed by line by line explanation of the lesson along with the meanings of difficult words.

 

 

Also See : ICSE Class 10 English When Great Trees Fall Question Answers

 

When Great Trees Fall ICSE Class 10 English 

By Maya Angelou

 

When Great Trees Fall Introduction

The poem ‘When Great trees Fall’ is emotional as it raises a similarity between nature and humans. The poet equates great trees with great men and wants to say that the loss of great men from the earth is significant just like the destruction of an old tree destabilizes equilibrium of the forest. The poem ends on a positive and comforting note that one can console oneself that once such great men existed around them. We can get inspiration from their lives and aim to be great like them.

 

Theme of the Poem


The poem highlights the inevitable feeling of sadness accompanied with the loss of great men. Gradually we overcome the loss and recover just like nature recovers from the loss of great trees. A positive outlook and an aim towards a better persona can be set as targets which are inspired by such great lives. 


See Video of When Great Trees Fall

 

Also See: ICSE Class 10 English Language and Literature Syllabus 2024-25

 

When Great Trees Fall Summary

The poet says that when an old, big tree uproots and falls, the Earth trembles and causes even the massive rocks to shudder. The fearless animals like the lions also hide behind the tall grass. Even the mighty elephants run in search for safer places. The smaller animals and insects hide and remain quiet. Their sense organs stop working due to the intense fear.
Then she talks of the death of great men. When such souls depart, it becomes difficult for us to breathe. Our senses cannot work. Our vision is unclear and we realize the pain of such loss. We are reminded of the kindness of these souls, the unfulfilled promises which we will not be able to fulfil.
The part of our life which is attached to these souls also ends. Our soul which was nurtured by them shrinks and our mind which was formed of their shining qualities falls apart. This does not make us mad with anger. However, it is so grave as if we are all alone in a dark cave of sadness.
After this initial period of intense sadness and pain, there is peace. It comes slowly and gradually. There is a kind of electric vibration of tranquility. It energizes our senses which have an inner talk with us and say that the great souls once existed and now, we can also achieve that greatness. We can be great like them because once, they too existed.

 

 

When Great Trees Fall Summary in Hindi


कवि कहते हैं कि जब कोई पुराना, बड़ा पेड़ उखड़कर गिर जाता है, तो पृथ्वी कांपने लगती है और बड़ी-बड़ी चट्टानें भी कांपने लगती हैं। शेर जैसे निडर जानवर भी लंबी घास के पीछे छुपे रहते हैं। यहाँ तक कि शक्तिशाली हाथी भी सुरक्षित स्थानों की तलाश में भागते हैं। छोटे जानवर और कीड़े छिप जाते हैं और शांत रहते हैं। तीव्र भय के कारण उनकी इंद्रियाँ काम करना बंद कर देती हैं।
फिर वह महापुरुषों की मृत्यु की बात करती है। जब ऐसी आत्माएं चली जाती हैं तो हमारे लिए सांस लेना मुश्किल हो जाता है। हमारी इंद्रियाँ काम नहीं कर सकतीं। हमारी दृष्टि अस्पष्ट है और हमें इस तरह के नुकसान के दर्द का एहसास है। हमें इन आत्माओं की दयालुता, अधूरे वादे याद दिलाए जाते हैं जिन्हें हम पूरा नहीं कर पाएंगे।
हमारे जीवन का वह भाग भी समाप्त हो जाता है जो इन आत्माओं से जुड़ा होता है। हमारी आत्मा जो उनसे पोषित हुई थी वह सिकुड़ जाती है और हमारा मन जो उनके उज्ज्वल गुणों से बना था वह बिखर जाता है। इससे हम क्रोध से पागल नहीं हो जाते। हालाँकि, यह इतना गंभीर है मानो हम दुःख की अंधेरी गुफा में बिल्कुल अकेले हैं।
तीव्र दुःख और दर्द की इस प्रारंभिक अवधि के बाद, शांति है। यह धीरे-धीरे आती है। शांति का एक प्रकार का विद्युत कंपन है। यह हमारी इंद्रियों को सक्रिय करता है जो हमारे साथ आंतरिक बातचीत करती हैं और कहती हैं कि महान आत्माएं एक समय अस्तित्व में थीं और अब, हम भी उस महानता को प्राप्त कर सकते हैं। हम उनके जैसे महान हो सकते हैं क्योंकि एक समय उनका भी अस्तित्व था।

 


 

Title Analysis of the Poem When Great Trees Fall

The title of the poem ‘When Great trees fall’ is an extended metaphor. The trees are a symbol of great men whose death is like the falling of a great old tree in the forest.
The loss is immense and is felt by the entire society.
The poet uses refrain to repeat this sentence – When great trees fall to lay stress on the death of a great soul.
 

 

Narrative Style of Poem When Great Trees Fall

The poem ‘When Great Trees Fall’ is divided into five stanzas of uneven lengths. It does not follow any regular rhyme scheme or traditional meter. However, it uses rhymed words and varying line-lengths to create a rhythm.
Maya Angelou has used several literary devices as part of her poetic techniques in this poem, such as : 

  1. Metaphor: Throughout the poem the use of extended metaphor, the fall of great trees, is made to identify the fall of great trees with the death of great men. This metaphor beautifully brings out some similarity between the world of nature and the human world.
  2. Alliteration: The repetition of consonant sounds in nearby words in a poetic line (‘alliteration’) can be seen in the following lines;
  • We breathe, briefly                 (‘b’ sound)
  • a hurtful clarity                        (‘I’ and ‘t’ sounds)
  • We can be. Be and be            (‘b’ sound)
  1. Repetition: For emphasis sake the poet has repeated some lines and words :
  • When great trees fall
  • When great souls die
  • words – ‘briefly’, ‘briefly’ (Stanza 3), ‘be’ (Stanza 5)
  • ‘They existed’ (Stanza 5)
  1. Enjambment: The sentence continuing beyond the end of a poetic line called enjambment is used by the poet to put an emphasis on some words and to create an appropriate rhythmic impression, as in the following cases : 
  • Lions hunker down

            in tall grasses

  • Our eyes, briefly,

            see with
           a hurtful clarity

 

 

When Great Trees Fall Poem Explanation


Poem:
When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

Word meanings:
Shudder: tremble
Hunker: squat
Lumber: move slowly and awkwardly

Explanation:
The poet says that in the forests, when big old trees fall down, the earth trembles which causes the huge rocks to tremble. This scares lions and elephants too, which are considered the most fearless animals. The lions hide behind tall grasses and the elephants move to safer places because the shivering indicates that a dangerous calamity is approaching.

Poem:
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

Word meanings:
Recoil: shrink
Eroded: worn out

Explanation:
She adds that when great trees fall down in the forests, the smaller animals and insects are fear stricken. They stop moving and become silent. Their faculties of sight, hear, etc stop working due to the intense fear.

Poem:
When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Word meanings:
Rare: here, not in adequate quantity
Sterile: here, not good to breathe
Hurtful clarity: understanding which is painful
Gnaws on: continues to remind us painfully
Unsaid: words which remain unspoken

Explanation:
Now in this stanza she talks of great men who die. The people who are left behind are grief sticken, unable to breathe. They feel that the air is polluted because they are not able to breathe because the heart is heavy with pain. They take small breaths and can hardly see because all the senses don’t work due to the intense pain. The eyes realise the pain of losing a loved one and this causes a lot of hurt. We are reminded of the kindness of those great souls who never spoke to them but their acts indicated their kind heart. We are reminded of the promises we had made perhaps, of going for a walk which could not be fulfilled for they have left forever.

Poem:
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance of
dark, cold
caves.

Word meanings:
Bound: attached
Nurture: care and encouragement
Radiance: bright qualities
Wizened: shrivelled
Fall away: sag, slacken
Dark cold caves: dark caves of despair

Explanation:
She adds that when such great souls leave us, the part of our life that was attached to them also ends. Our soul which got their care also gets shrunk due to lack of that care. Our mind which was made up of their shining qualities also starts to fall apart. It is not that we are angry that they have left us but it is much more. She says that it is like we are alone in a dark cave which is full of sadness and hopelessness.

Poem:
And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed

Word meanings:
Soothing: comforting
Restored: brought back

Explanation:
Then she adds that when a great soul dies, after a gap, one experiences peace. It is a slow and gradual process.There is a kind of electric vibration which surrounds us and soothes us. The senses start working again but they are not the same as before. They impact of the loss changes them. There is an inner talk which inspires us that the great men existed in the past and similarly, even we can become great. It motivates us to be better and great like those great souls which once existed.

 

 

Figures of Speech

1. Extended metaphor – When an indirect comparison between the quality of two things is seen throughout a poem.
Trees have been compared to men.

2. Enjambment – when the same sentence continues to the next line without the use of punctuation mark at the end of the line

3. Alliteration – the repetition of a consonant sound at the start of two or more consecutive words.
Breathe, briefly
Much maddened

4. Repetition – the repeated use of a sentence or a word to emphasize on it
When great trees fall
When great souls die
They existed, they existed
Be and be
 

 
Also See: 

ICSE Class 10 English Summary, Explanation

 

 

ICSE Class 10 English Important Question Answers

 

Submit a Comment