the poem gives a strong message of living in harmony with nature. explain with refence to "the trees" by adrienne rich.

Dear Student,

The poem presents a conflict between man and nature. While nature is more free and unbounded, man prefers to live in bounded spaces and also wants to curb nature. He uses plants for interior decoration of houses, cuts trees to make a house for himself, kills animals for food or other purposes and cages them in zoos. In all these ways, man curbs nature and denies plants and animals the freedom in which they should live. The poem shows that trees and plants are rebelling against man as they strive to work their way out into the open. For instance, in the poem ‘A Tiger in the Zoo’, the poet presents the fact that animals feel bounded by cages. They can only take a few steps inside the cage, whereas they really want to run and leap into the open. This signifies the fact that plants and animals feel caged by humans and want to break out from the imprisonment at the hands of humans. Adrienne Rich has been known to use trees as a metaphor for human beings. In this sense, the trees can also be seen as being symbolic of people who are freeing themselves from imposed customs and behaviors of modern times and finally reaching out to express their true selves and purpose. The poem seems to suggest both trees and man must live the way they were meant to live in harmony with nature and amidst nature.

Regards