What does the poet mean by “In sap and leaf and wood” in the poem “The Heart of the Tree” by Henry Cuyler Bunner?
Here “sap and leaf and wood” refers to every cell of a tree. The poet wants to say that the tree planter’s loyalty and love for this big worldly home, his far-reached thought of civic good and his blessings on his neighbourhood are felt or reflected in the sap and leaf and wood of the tree — in every cell of the tree which he plants.
He plants in sap and leaf and wood,
In love of home and loyalty
And far-cast thought of civic good—
His blessings on the neighbourhood,
By the line he plants in sap and leaf and wood the poet says that the one who plants a tree loves the universe and very much concerned about it so he plants a tree so that human beings can get food from the sap and leaves and therefore he is referred to as god-like.
