The Trees Are Down Essay by Charlotte Mew

specificity of the trees makes it personal to the speaker, perhaps suggesting a connection between Mew and nature, a late romantic technique. The noun “garden” usually means near a house, reinforcing the closeness physically and metaphorically that the poet shared with the trees.

Mew uses her connection to these trees to signify her connection to nature. The onomatopoeia of the “grate” and “swish” creates vividness to the scene. There is a contrast between the harsh consonants “gr” used to describe the human equipment and soft consonants “sw” to describe the movement of the trees. Mew is highlighting the harsh destruction of harmless nature by man. The repetition of the adjective phrase “loud common” suggests that there people are either ignorant towards their damage to nature or many people have in “common” no appreciation for nature.

Mew could also be highlighting her feelings of disgust towards their noisy behaviour. This is reinforced by the almost vulgar language of the men with the interjections “Whoops” and “Whoas”. The preposition “above” to describe the sounds of the men compared to the sounds of nature highlight that men is above nature because they exploit nature for man’s own purposes. The reader understands the poet’s disagreement with the men’s destructive point of view of nature as her point of view is an appreciation and understanding of nature.

The second stanza expresses the poet’s memory which lead to this appreciation of nature, while the cutting down of the trees continues. The stanza begins with the pronoun and verb “I remember” to imply that this is a childhood memory Mew is going to portray. The adjective “god-forsaken” highlights the

speaker’s distaste for the rodent as it has no use or value. The adjective “even” highlights that in spring, the season of life, even a useless creature like a rat should not be dead. This further highlights Mew’s devastation of the cutting down and dying of the trees in spring.

The adjective phrase “fine grey rain” suggests that perhaps the rain is sympathetic. Also the rain being thin emphasises the suffering of nature. Perhaps Mew is suggesting that all of nature is affected by the destruction of the trees, that there is all encompassing damage. The parenthetical statement “(Down now! -)” separates the height of nature with the destruction of height. Mew also separates the phrase because it is a celebration shared by the “men”, something she does not share.

The final phrase of the stanza, “thought of him again”, highlights that this was an important reflection in order for Mew to appreciate all life and creation. Mew is suggesting that if she had no witnessed death in the season of life, she would’ve lacked appreciation and shared the “common” view of the men. Mew uses this memory to convey her new appreciation for the trees and nature to the reader. In the final two stanzas the poet reflects on a more personal level of connectedness that has been severed with the felling of the trees.

The djective and noun “whispering loveliness” personifies and emotionalises the trees and nature, creating a romantic perspective. The sounds of the trees are unheard over the noise of the ignorant men. Mew is suggesting through the trees that only she hears and understands nature. The pronoun

“me” and verb “gone” highlights that with the removal of the trees, Mew has been cut off from her childhood, this past being removed is causing her loss and pain. The pronoun “me” highlights how this is personal to Mew, because the trees were part of her childhood and filled with memories.

The repetition of the noun “heart” implies that a connection was formed between herself and the nature she was mesmerised by. Now there is a sense of disconnection because of the felling of the trees, suggesting the lost felt by Mew. The verb phrase “beat with these” extends the “heart” symbol to suggest synchronisation between herself and nature. The prepositional phrases are all to do with the seasons and there are specific places identified. Mew is suggesting that through her childhood everything was identified with a season or a place, such as the “plane-trees”.

Now that they are being removed, perhaps Mew is feeling a loss of identity. The repetition of the adjective “great” highlights that Mew is trying to relate the greatness to her youth. She perceives greatness in the trees, which the men do not. Mew uses the trees to highlight the loss of her childhood memories which comes with the felling of the trees. Mew uses the trees to imply her understanding and connection to nature and also highlight her personal connection to the trees as they were a part of her childhood. The poem begins and ends with an inscription from the Revelation.

Angel of the Lord instructs 4 angels, who are charged with beginning God’s destruction, to cease until the seal of the Lord has

been placed on the forehead of those to be spared. Mew uses this biblical allusion to imagine herself ‘spared’ from the “common”. Mew is suggesting to the reader that she is to be spared because she did not share the common perspective that this creation is for man to exploit as he sees fit for men’s purposes. Perhaps Mew is challenging the reader to also appreciate nature rather than fall into the common.