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,