Child's Song in Spring
by Edith Nesbit (Roots)
The Poem :
"The silver birch is a dainty lady,
She wears a satin gown;
The elm tree makes the old churchyard shady,
She will not live in town.
The English oak is a sturdy fellow,
He gets his green coat late;
The willow is smart in a suit of yellow,
While brown the beech trees wait.
Such a gay green gown God gives the larches -
As green as He is good!
The hazels hold up their arms for arches,
When Spring rides through the wood.
The chestnut's proud and the lilac's pretty,
The poplar's gentle and tall,
But the plane tree's kind to the poor dull city -
I love him best of all!"
Summary of the Poem :
This poem describes nature during spring time through the eyes of a child. Silver birch tree is a small and delicate lady wearing a satin gown. Elm tree does not grow in town. It thrives in the old churchyard and gives shade.
English oak is a strong tree and can not be easily damaged. It gets its green cover late. The willow trees are yellow and smart. The beech trees are brown.
The larches has gay green gown like appearance given by God to show that the almighty is good for us. As the spring comes to the forest, the hazel trees hold their branches like arches.
The chestnut trees are proud and the lilac threes are beautiful with their pretty flowers. The poplar trees are gentle and tall. The poetic persona likes the plane tree most because they are found in the poor dull city.
Comprehension
1. Match the different trees from the poem to what the poet says about them.
=
|
a. Silver birch |
Gets his green coat late. [b] |
|
b. English oak |
Has a suit of yellow. [d] |
|
c. Plane tree |
Wears a satin gown. [a] |
|
d. Willow |
Gentle and tall. [e] |
|
e. Poplar |
Kind to the poor, dull city. [c] |
2. Explain the poet's comment about the elm tree: "She will not live in town."
= Elm tree does not grow in town. It thrives in the old churchyard and gives shade.
3. What image do you get of the English oak when the poet says he 'gets his green coat late'? Is it funny image?
= English oak is a strong tree and can not be easily damaged. It gets its green cover late. English oak is a slow growing deciduous tree. It grows or gets back its green leaves very slowly.
Yes, it is a funny image. We know that deciduous trees get back its leaves gradually after shedding them. Here the new leaves have been compared with getting green coat.
4. Why is the plane tree the poet's favourite?
= The poetic persona likes the plane tree most because they are found in the poor dull city. Those threes impose the beauty of the dull concrete city.
5. List the different colours the poem talks about and discuss what they mean.
= The poet has talked about different colours to signify the different trees. The silver colour is for birch tree. Green is for English oak tree. Willow tree is yellow. The beech tree is brown. The larches tree is also green representing the goodness of the God.
6. How would you describe the poet's tone in the poem? What is the feeling conveyed to the reader?
= This poem describes nature during springtime through the eyes of a child. The poet describes the various types of trees along with their distinct characteristics. The poet has personified different trees throughout the poem. Different trees are referred to as 'he' or 'she'. The poet shows that the trees also perform human actions and wear human clothes.
The readers get a strong feeling regarding the different characteristics of different trees. The readers get the sense of the individuality of different trees. Every tree has their discrete appearance and beauty in nature during spring time.
About the Poem :
Edith Nesbit (1858-1924), born in London, was a British children's author, novelist and poet. Nesbit's childhood experiences served as an inspiration for the plots of her books. She started writing fiction for children in the early 1890s and published more than 60 pieces in her lifetime. The books she wrote brought children in the real world and magical objects together on adventures.