"Tree"

Tree

 

It is foolish

to let a young redwood

grow next to a house.

 

Even in this

one lifetime,

you will have to choose.

 

That great calm being,

this clutter of soup pots and books --

 

Already the first branch-tips brush at the window.

Softly, calmly, immensity taps at your life.

~Jane Hirshfield

In 1953, Jane Hirshfield was born in New York City. She was a part of the first class to include women when she received her B.A from Princeton. She works as a freelance writer and translator. She has had many books of poetry published. They  include Given Sugar, Given Salt in which this poem appears. Her poetry has been described by Rosanna Warren as appearing simple without actually being so. She has received many awards for her work, including the 70th Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by the Academy of American Poets.  

In this poem, Hirshfield compares the constancy, stability, and calmness of the great redwood tree to that of the fleeting, stormy, and ever changing qualities of life. During only one lifetime of any person, the redwood tree will only begin to live it's life. It will grow to an immense size in that very little time. The choice will have to be made between this thing of immense beauty and meaning that could last a lifetime, and the house that is only there for a fleeting while. Already the branches begin to tap on the window. The immensity the author speaks of is likely not that of the actual tree but what the tree can represent symbolically. What is tapping on the window is all of the opportunities for meaning and purpose in life. There is only a short time for the decision to be made to do something important. The choices are difficult but must be made within that short span of time. 

This poem is so unique and special due to the unlikely comparison between the qualities of life and the tree. Also, the images that the author creates of the young redwood tree growing by the house. It's branches are slowly beginning to tap on the window of the house. It has the potential to become huge and a  great calm being. The reader can practically see the tree as it is growing and hear the branches as they hit the window.