The Heart of the Tree by Henry Cuyler Bunner: Summary, review, analysis

Industrialization did make life much easier for mankind, but also took a heavy toll on environment. American novelist and poet, Henry Cuyler Bunner, could see the impending destruction and through his poem has appealed to readers to take action. Just as the heart is the most important organ of the human body, trees also play a vital role in our universe and are equally important for our survival.

Every time the poet asks the question “What does he plant who pants a tree”, he proceeds to list the several benefits trees pass on to us: provides shade, purifies air, aids cloud formation through transpiration, cools the atmosphere, and provides soothing breeze. The poet talks about the regenerative nature of trees, which means when you plant a tree its benefits are reaped by the future generation a well.

Bunner also highlights how fruits, medicines, and wood boost the economy of a region.

Towards the end of the poem, Bunner gets more philosophical and says one who plants a tree is also a more responsible person, who cares for his family, his neighbourhood, and the entire universe.

The key point that Bunner is trying to drive home is that the need of the hour is to plant trees on a huge scale, as a lot of damage has already been done. Until that is done, the disastrous effects of global warming and climate change, such as flooding, tsunamis, drought, harmful pollution will continue to ravage this planet.

We whole-heartedly agree with the views put forth in the poem as well as in the speech. Communities should reverse these trends by undertaking tree plantation drives. Determine the types of trees that are best suited for your community and plant them in the neighbourhood, in residential and commercial properties. In the name of development, people around the world have taken the environment for granted, and its repercussions can be seen through the deadly calamities that mother nature unleashes on us occasionally. One who plants a tree, plants an entire forest, whose benefits can be reaped by the future generation, and if all of us do that, the world will surely be a better place to live in.

Full Poem:

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants a friend of sun and sky;
He plants the flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh;
For song and mother-croon of bird
In hushed and happy twilight heard—
The treble of heaven’s harmony—
These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest’s heritage;
The harvest of a coming age;
The joy that unborn eyes shall see—
These things he plants who plants a tree.
What does he plant who plants a tree?
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,
Who in the hollow of His hand
Holds all the growth of all our land—
A nation’s growth from sea to sea
Stirs in his heart who plants a tree.

Academic Questions

Question: Is the poem ‘The Heart of the Tree’ by Henry Cuyler Bunner relevant in the present day world? Comment on how the idea conveyed in the poem relate to the society today.

Question. Nature provides Man with both spiritual and utilitarian benefits. Elucidate this statement with examples from the poems Daffodils and The Heart of the Tree.