When Great Trees fall – Contextual Q&A
Question 1
"When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.
When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear."
(i) What is the extended metaphor being introduced in these lines? (3)
(ii) What do the various animal reactions symbolize about the impact of loss? (3)
(iii) Why does the poet use both large and small creatures in the opening stanza? (3)
(iv) What is the significance of "senses eroded beyond fear"? (3)
(v) How does the opening stanza establish the poem's perspective on loss and grief? (4)
Answer:
(i) The extended metaphor compares the falling of great trees to the death of great people. Just as physical trees are mighty and provide shelter, great people are influential and nurturing. Their fall (death) causes widespread disturbance and loss.
(ii) The animal reactions symbolize how the loss of a great person affects all beings, regardless of size or strength. Lions hunker down, elephants lumber after safety, and small things recoil into silence. This shows that no one is immune to the impact of such loss—even the powerful are disturbed and seek refuge.
(iii) The poet uses both large and small creatures to emphasize the universal impact of loss. Whether you are as strong as an elephant or as small and vulnerable as other forest creatures, the death of a great person affects you profoundly. There is no hiding place, no immunity, regardless of one's own strength or status.
(iv) "Senses eroded beyond fear" means the grief is so profound that fear itself becomes insignificant. The numbness that follows loss is deeper than mere fear—it is a kind of emotional and sensory erosion where normal emotions are worn away. The senses become dulled and overwhelmed by grief rather than fear.
(v) The opening stanza establishes that the poem views loss as a universal, inescapable human experience that shakes everything and everyone. It sets the tone of profound impact and widespread disturbance. The perspective is one of awe at the magnitude of loss—how completely it disrupts the natural order and affects all beings, great and small.
Question 2
"When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken."
(i) What does "the air around us becomes light, rare, sterile" suggest about the immediate aftermath of loss? (3)
(ii) What is the significance of "briefly" being repeated in "We breathe, briefly" and "Our eyes, briefly"? (3)
(iii) What does "hurtful clarity" mean and what does it represent? (3)
(iv) What does memory "gnaw on"? Why is this choice of verb significant? (3)
(v) How do these lines shift from the natural imagery of the first stanza to a more psychological examination of grief? (4)
Answer:
(i) The air becoming "light, rare, sterile" suggests that the world feels empty, depleted and lifeless. The atmosphere is stripped of vitality—"sterile" means barren and unable to produce life. The great person who gave warmth and meaning to our world has departed, leaving the atmosphere thin and devoid of substance. It is no longer a place conducive to growth or comfort.
(ii) The repetition of "briefly" emphasizes the transient, momentary nature of these sensations. We can only breathe and see clearly "briefly"—the moments are fleeting and unstable. This suggests that in the immediate aftermath of loss, our normal functioning is interrupted only temporarily, implying that grief has both acute phases and longer-term adjustments. The "briefly" captures the shock and disorientation that is sudden but not permanent.
(iii) "Hurtful clarity" is a paradox: clarity is usually good, but in this context it is painful. It refers to a moment of profound understanding—we see with painful accuracy what we have lost, what we will miss, what our world will never be again without this person. The clarity is hurtful because it forces us to fully comprehend the finality of loss.
(iv) Memory "gnaws on kind words unsaid and promised walks never taken." The verb "gnaw" is significant because it suggests memory does not simply recall but persistently eats away at us, like a rodent gnawing at wood. It is relentless, painful and repetitive. The verb conveys the nagging quality of regret—the way certain regrets return to haunt us constantly. Gnawing also suggests something inescapable and destructive.
(v) The first stanza uses natural, external imagery (falling trees, animals, forests) to describe loss as a physical, universal phenomenon. These lines shift to the internal, psychological world—specifically to the human experience of grief. Memory, eyes, breath—these are internal, personal experiences. The poem moves from the cosmic and natural to the intimate and emotional, showing how great loss affects us at the deepest psychological level.
Question 3
"Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold caves."
(i) What does "our reality, bound to them, takes leave of us" mean? (3)
(ii) How are our souls affected by the death of a great soul? (3)
(iii) What do "formed and informed by their radiance" reveal about the relationship between great souls and those who know them? (3)
(iv) Why does the poet say "we are not so much maddened as reduced to the unutterable ignorance"? (3)
(v) How does this stanza represent the deepest, most profound effects of losing a great person? (4)
Answer:
(i) Our reality was built upon and interconnected with the great person who has died. When they die, the reality we created with them ceases to exist for us. The departure of the great soul means the world we inhabited with them is no longer available to us. We lose not just a person but the entire reality and set of experiences that centered on them.
(ii) Our souls, which were "dependent upon their nurture" for growth and sustenance, "now shrink, wizened." Without the nourishment the great person provided—their guidance, inspiration, love—our inner selves become diminished, shriveled and smaller. The metaphor of "wizened" (aged, shrunken) suggests our spirits are drained and reduced to a shadow of their former vitality.
(iii) Our minds were both "formed" (shaped, created) and "informed" (given knowledge and consciousness) by their "radiance" (their brilliance, wisdom and glow). This reveals a profound interdependence: great souls do not simply exist alongside us; they actively shape our consciousness and intellectual development. They are the source of our enlightenment. Their loss is therefore catastrophic because it removes the source of our ongoing illumination and growth.
(iv) The poet distinguishes between madness and profound numbness. Madness suggests wild, active emotion and reaction. But grief from losing a great soul is deeper—it reduces us to "unutterable ignorance" (a state too deep for words, a state of not-knowing). We are not angry or violently reactive; we are reduced to a primitive state of confusion and incapacity, like being trapped in "dark, cold caves"—a state of utter darkness and isolation.
(v) This stanza represents the deepest effects of loss by moving beyond emotions to fundamental changes in our being. We lose our sense of reality, our spiritual vitality, our mental capacity. The great person has not just left us; they have taken with them our sense of self and understanding of the world. We are fundamentally diminished, reduced and changed at the core of our existence.
Question 4
"And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed."
(i) What does "peace blooms, slowly and always irregularly" suggest about healing? (3)
(ii) What does "spaces fill with a kind of soothing electric vibration" convey about the atmosphere after loss? (3)
(iii) Why is the phrase "Our senses, restored, never to be the same" paradoxical and what does it mean? (3)
(iv) What is the significance of repeating "They existed. They existed" and then "We can be. Be and be"? (3)
(v) How does the concluding stanza transform grief into affirmation and purpose? (4)