The Heart of the Tree & The Cold Within
Part 1 — The Heart of the Tree (Henry Cuyler Bunner)
About the Poet
Henry Cuyler Bunner (1855–1896) was an American poet and novelist. 'The Heart of the Tree' is his most famous poem — a CELEBRATION of tree-planting that every Indian student knows.
The Poem — 'What Does He Plant Who Plants a Tree?'
The poem is structured as a SERIES OF QUESTIONS and ANSWERS. Bunner ASKS: 'What does he plant who plants a tree?' — and then provides a CASCADE of answers, each more profound than the last.
The First Answer — Immediate Gifts to Nature and Neighbour
- 'He plants a friend of sun and sky.' The tree will grow — reaching up to the light, sinking roots into earth.
- He plants 'the flag of breezes free' — the tree's leaves will flutter, catching the wind.
- 'The shaft of beauty, towering high' — the tree's physical BEAUTY.
- He plants 'a home to heaven anigh' — birds will nest in the branches, singing at dawn.
The Second Answer — Practical and Ecological Gifts
- 'He plants cool shade and tender rain.' Trees bring SHADE. They ATTRACT rain.
- 'He plants a forest's heritage, / The harvest of a coming age' — the tree will outlive the planter. It is a GIFT to future generations.
- 'The joy that unborn eyes shall see' — people not yet BORN will enjoy this tree.
The Third Answer — The Spiritual and Civic Gift (The Deepest)
- 'He plants, in sap and leaf and wood, / In love of home and loyalty / And far-cast thought of civic good' — planting a tree is an act of LOVE for one's community and COUNTRY.
- 'His blessings on the neighbourhood' — everyone benefits.
- The FINAL answer: 'When he plants a tree, / He plants a HEART OF NATURE — / And a HEART OF HUMANITY.' When you plant a tree, you plant the HEART of the natural world AND the HEART of human kindness — connected. The tree bridges nature and humanity.
Key Themes
- Environmental Stewardship: Planting a tree is caring for the EARTH.
- Intergenerational Responsibility: The tree benefits 'unborn eyes.' What we plant today is for TOMORROW.
- The Unity of Nature and Humanity: The tree is BOTH 'a heart of nature' and 'a heart of humanity.'
Repetition as Structure
The phrase 'What does he plant who plants a tree?' is REPEATED — like a chant. Each repetition goes DEEPER. Each answer is LARGER.
Part 2 — The Cold Within (James Patrick Kinney)
About the Poem
James Patrick Kinney (1923–1974) was an American poet. 'The Cold Within' is his most famous work — a PARABLE about prejudice written in the 1960s, during the American Civil Rights Movement.
The Story in the Poem
The Scene: Six humans are trapped together in BITTER COLD. They have a FIRE — but it is dying. Each person HOLDS A STICK OF WOOD that could feed the fire. The fire NEEDS their wood to survive. But NONE of them will share.
The Six People — and Why They Won't Share:
- The first sees a BLACK person in the group. Her stick she 'held hers back' — RACISM. She won't help if a black person will benefit.
- The second sees a person NOT OF HIS CHURCH. RELIGIOUS BIGOTRY. 'He could not bring himself to give the fire his stick of birch.'
- The third is POOR — in tattered clothes. He sees a RICH man and thinks: 'Why should I give my wood to warm the idle rich?' CLASS RESENTMENT.
- The fourth is RICH. He thinks of 'the lazy shiftless poor' and withholds his wood. CLASS PREJUDICE from above.
- The fifth is a BLACK man. He sees the WHITE woman who withheld her stick first. He withholds HIS stick in REVENGE. 'The Cold Within' — the coldness in the HEART — is the same in ALL colours.
- The sixth — the last — 'did nothing except gain.' He would give his stick ONLY to those who gave FIRST. He was a SPECTATOR — waiting to see who 'deserved' help.
The Result — All Six DIE
The fire DIES. All six people FREEZE TO DEATH. 'They died not from the cold without / But from the COLD WITHIN.' The cold in their HEARTS — their prejudice, their resentment, their selfishness — killed them.
The Final Lines
'Forlorn and stark, they perished — / Their logs held tight in death's still hand. / Proof of their human sin: / They did not die from cold without, / But from the COLD WITHIN.'
Key Themes
- Prejudice Destroys EVERYONE — the oppressor AND the oppressed
- The Universal Human Capacity for Hate: All six — regardless of race, class, religion — were CAPABLE of 'the cold within.' The poem doesn't single out one group. It indicts ALL prejudice — from everywhere, in every direction.
- The Need to Overcome Division for Collective Survival: 'We all SHARE the fire. If we don't share it, we ALL die.'
Literary Devices
- Allegory/Parable: A simple story with a DEEP moral meaning
- Symbolism: The FIRE = life, warmth, community, shared survival. The WOOD = contribution, sharing, goodwill. The COLD = prejudice, selfishness, hatred.
- Irony: Each person thought they were HURTING the other — but they were HURTING THEMSELVES. The 'cold within' killed them ALL.
- Contrast: Cold OUTSIDE (weather) vs. Cold INSIDE (prejudice). The inside cold was the LETHAL one.
