Cherry Tree - Ruskin Bond

                    2.1 Cherry Tree

                                 - Ruskin Bond

     

Cherry Tree 

Ruskin Bond : Born in Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, in 1934, Ruskin Bond has written hundreds of short stories, essays, novellas and more than thirty books for children. His first novel, 'The Room on the Roof', written when he was seventeen received the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize in 1957. He has also published two volumes of autobiography, 'Scenes from a Writer's Life' and 'The Lamp is Lit', a collection of essays and episodes from his journal. In 1992 he received the Sahitya Akademi Award for English writing in India. He was awarded the Padmashri in 1999. Ruskin Bond lives with his adopted family in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand.

   

Paraphrase of the poem -

    The poem Cherry Tree is about the ecstasy of the poet over a plant which he has seeded eight years ago.It was a seed of cherry tree which took eight years to grow. In the poem, Ruskin Bond expresses his wonder at the nature works hard to survive in difficult conditions against all odds. Eight years ago, the poet planted a cherry seed because he wanted to have a plant of his own. The young poet used to water it daily but he was unaware of the fact that cherry plant needs extra special care to grow into a healthy tree. Inspite of getting any special attention, by the end of May, the poet saw the small cherry sapling coming out of the ground. It was a very small plant, young and fragile, vulnerable to all kinds of external dangers. Tall wild grasses grew all around it and the goats ate its ‘leaves’ and then one day the grass cutter’s blade mercilessly ‘split it apart’. Its tender stem also bravely fought the heavy monsoon and even after all these, the poet saw new shoots growing out of it as the young tree made its struggle against nature to survive and fiercely made an ‘upward thrust’ to get ‘light and air and sun’.

The poet could now just wait and watch while he took pleasure on seeing his small cherry plant blossoming into a tree as ‘Time and the rain’ nourished it and like a miracle the tree grew, too stubborn to give up. Then it was time for the poet to bid adieu to his beloved tree as he went to Kashmir to spend a season there. The poet returned after a few months poor in health and heart but was overjoyed to find a ‘six feet high’ dark cherry tree at his doorstep. To his disbelief, he saw a small berry fruit hanging from a branch, ‘Hung from a branch—just one! a small little pink and fragile berry that could fall at the single stir of wind.

In his ecstasy, the poet “lay on the grass” whole day at leisure to look up to the cherry tree as the “finches” flew past and birds flocked in and out of the tree and the bees drank nectar from each ‘bloom’. Soon it was dark and stars lit the whole night sky and the ‘moon-moths’ and crickets sang. As the poet enjoyed the rapture of nature and felt himself akin with it, he marveled at his own creation, the small cherry plant that has grown into a big tree over the span of eight years. In the ending couplet, the poet associates himself with the nature and creator, as he takes pride for being part of it. Cherry Tree is therefore, the poet’s rumination about the ways of nature as it participates in the process of creation. It is the struggle of each living object to fight and survive despite all odds.

Thus, the poem gives us an underlying message about the tree's resilience and its determination to grow despite all odds. In the same way, humans too can overcome the obstacles that they face in life and become resilient like the cherry tree.

Appreciation of the poem:

Cherry Tree is a beautiful poem written by Ruskin Bond. It is a narrative poem describing the everyday struggle of a plant to grow & blossom. The poet’s tone is optimistic, full of wonder for the nature – he focusses on the growing aspect of nature. The poem has a beginning, middle and an end. It’s a simple poem about the poet’s innocent & pure joy. All the incidents are in nice sequence.

The poet planted a cherry seed which grew into a full blossomed tree after a wait of eight years. The poem is all about this wonderful experience and survival instinct of the tree. The time, that is the seasons and the rain helped the tree grow and the poet watched this patiently without much to do. The poem is about the poet’s sense of achievement & pride of having nurtured a tree.

The style & language of the poem is simple. Poetic devices such as Alliteration, Antithesis, Climax, Personification are used by the poet. The important aspect of this poem is its picturesque depiction & colourful imagery. The whole process of a seed turning into a plant is been made appealing to the readers with colourful & vivid description. The references of seasons, the sky, animals, birds, insects focus on the wonders of nature.

The poem gives a message of nature conservation- tree plantation & its importance. The cherry tree is indeed a ‘Giving Tree’. It also speaks about the tree’s determination to grow despite all odds. I like the poem for its positive, optimistic tone. It encourages us to overcome the obstacles, hardships we may face in life & become resilient like the cherry tree.

Poetic Devices:

Figures of speech in the poem–

1] Alliteration – Consonant sounds are pleasingly repeated

Example –

a) Its arms in a fresh fierce lust

Here, the consonant sound ‘f’ is repeated pleasingly.

b) Made a miracle from green growing

Here, the consonant sound ‘g’ is repeated pleasingly.

c) Shriveled the slender stem….

Here, the consonant sound ‘s’ is repeated pleasingly

2] Antithesis – Opposite ideas/words are used together.

Example –

a) but cherries have a way of growing,

Though no one’s caring very much or knowing.

-Opposite idea of growing without caring is seen in the lines.

b) It was very small, five months child Lost in the tall grass running wild.

-Opposite ideas – small and tall are seen in the lines.

 C)  Came back thinner, rather poor,

But richer by a cherry tree at my door.

Words ‘Poor’ and ‘Richer’ are opposite to each other

3] Climax – words, phrases, lines are arranged in ascending order of their importance.

Examples –

Pink, fragile, quick to fall

4] Personification – Human qualities are attributed to non-human, inanimate objects.

Example –

A Tree had come to stay

A tree is personified.