Nature in Larkin's Poetry Yannick Hunter-Thielemann 11th Grade

In the poem, ‘The Trees’, Larkin uses a cyclical ABBA rhyme scheme within each stanza to contrast the life cycle of trees with the life cycle of humans. In doing so, he is able to explore the fragility of life and the inevitability of death. His central argument that trees are deceitful, trying to trick one into believing that they never die, at first creates a sense that Larkin simply dislikes trees and humans. However, as the theme is developed, we see that Larkin is actually connecting the central symbol of the trees to a universal sadness about how short human lives are, possibly to meditate upon how we can move on from grief.

No speaker is mentioned in the first stanza, leaving the reader looking at the trees from a distanced perspective, as if across a field or out of a window. In the first line, the phrase ‘coming into leaf’ creates a positive tone, with connotations of springtime and new life, which give the poem a sense of forward movement. This is heightened by the promise of the simile ‘like something almost being said’, the sibilance of which portrays the image of wind rustling the leaves in a soothing way, adding to the peaceful atmosphere. At the same time, the ambiguity of the word ‘something’ draws us in by...