E-Lesson Plan

On Killing A Tree
Class – IX
Poetry From Beehive
 Objectives
• Reading and appreciating the poem
• Understanding the genre of the poem and Gieve Patel’s style of
writing
• Word Meanings- expanding the vocabulary with new words, usage
of new words.
• Poetic Devices and their usage in the poem.
• Reference to the context, Questions and Answers
• Appreciating the poet’s other works and recognition in the literary
world
• Critical Analysis/ Theme, Moral value imparted through the poem.
• Writing Skills based on the theme of the poem
• Understanding relation with real life/ current day situations.
The Poem
• It takes much time to kill a tree,
Not a simple jab of the knife
Will do it. It has grown
Slowly consuming the earth,
Rising out of it, feeding
Upon its crust, absorbing
Years of sunlight, air, water,
And out of its leperous hide
Sprouting leaves.

So hack and chop

But this alone wont do it.
Not so much pain will do it.
The bleeding bark will heal
And from close to the ground
Will rise curled green twigs,
Miniature boughs
Which if unchecked will expand again
To former size.
• No,
The root is to be pulled out -
Out of the anchoring earth;
It is to be roped, tied,
And pulled out - snapped out
Or pulled out entirely,
Out from the earth-cave,
And the strength of the tree exposed,
The source, white and wet,
The most sensitive, hidden
For years inside the earth.

Then the matter

Of scorching and choking
In sun and air,
Browning, hardening,
Twisting, withering,
And then it is done.
 SUMMARY
• It is not easy to kill a deep rooted tree. It takes much time
to kill it. A tree is too strong to be killed by a simple
attack of a knife. It has grown slowly consuming the
earth, feeding upon its crust, absorbing years of sunlight.
The strength it has stored through a long period of hard
work and patience cannot be destroyed in one go.
      When a tree is chopped, the barks bleed but soon they
heal up and expand again to their former size. If one
wants to kill a tree, It has to be pulled out of the
anchoring earth. Its most sensitive part, i.e., the roots,
has to be exposed to the sun and the air. Once it is done,
the tree is killed.
 KEY POINTS
• It is not easy to kill a tree. It takes much time.
• A tree grows on earth, feeds on its crust, absorbs years
of sun light, air and water.
• ‘Hack and chop’ does not kill tree. It wounds the barks
and makes them bleed. 
• The real strength of the tree lies in its roots.
• The roots are the most sensitive parts of the tree.
• When the roots are pulled out they are white and wet. 
• The sun and the air harden and wither the exposed
roots of the tree and kill it.
 Word Meanings
• Jab: 
Sudden rough blow. 
A simple jab of a knife cannot kill a tree.

• Leprous hide:
Discolored bark. 
The bark of a jabbed tree looks like leprous hide.

• Hack: 
Cut roughly by striking heavy blows. 
When a tree is hacked, the barks bleed but soon they heal  

• Snapped out: 
chopped out.
Bleeding expresses the pain of a tree when the branches of a tree or snapped out.

• Scorching and choking: 

The drying up of the tree after being uprooted. 
Pulling out the tree from the mother earth and scorching and Choking it in the sun and air
kill the tree.
Literary Devices
Short Questions

• Q: How does a tree become strong ?

Q: What does ‘hack and chop’ do to a tree? Does it kill it?

Q: What happens if the miniature boughs are left

unchecked ?

Q: How does the sun and the air contribute in the killing
of a tree?
In Reference to the Picture given below, write an Article on the
Topic – Chipko Movement