Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Jane Hirshfield's "Tree" captures the tension between human existence, with all its transient clutter, and the more enduring, imposing presence of nature. This succinct poem grapples with the inevitability of choice when two worlds collide. Through the lens of a young redwood growing beside a house, Hirshfield encapsulates larger issues concerning temporality, choice, and the intrusion of one realm into another.

The first stanza opens with the blunt caution that it is "foolish / to let a young redwood / grow next to a house." This assertion establishes the premise of the poem: the juxtaposition between human dwelling-a house-and the "young redwood," a symbol of nature's grandeur and longevity. The term "foolish" implies not just impracticality but a kind of existential naïveté. The speaker posits that even within "this / one lifetime," the redwood and the house will vie for the same space, the same air.

While the house represents "clutter of soup pots and books," the redwood symbolizes "that great calm being." In one, we see the messiness and material preoccupations of human life, and in the other, the sublime serenity of nature. The redwood is not merely a tree; it's a "great calm being," implying a sort of wisdom or timelessness that humans, consumed by their daily chores and concerns, lack. It's a contrast between the ephemeral and the eternal.

The last two lines of the poem are particularly evocative: "Already the first branch-tips brush at the window. / Softly, calmly, immensity taps at your life." Here, the redwood becomes an active participant in the narrative. It's not just growing passively next to the house; it's encroaching, making its presence felt. The image of "branch-tips" brushing "at the window" conveys a gentle yet persistent invasion. The redwood doesn't just tap on the window but taps on "your life," suggesting that this intrusion is both physical and existential. It serves as a reminder of something larger and more enduring than human life, forcing the homeowner to confront issues of space, existence, and ultimately, mortality.

What Hirshfield accomplishes in such brief poetic form is a rich thematic tapestry. She uses the simple image of a redwood tree growing beside a house as a complex metaphor for the inevitable choices life presents, the passage of time, and the quiet persistence of the natural world. The redwood's "immensity" not only threatens to overshadow the house but also to dwarf the human experiences that the house contains. This makes for a rich and thought-provoking poem that, in its brevity, touches on universal complexities.

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