Birches: Summary and Analysis

           The poem ‘Birches’ is reminiscent of the poems of The Romantics. Nostalgic, dreamy, escapist- it has all the qualities of any other romantic poem. The poem opens by giving possible explanations for the bending of the birch trees. Then the poet goes on to explain the beauty of the crystallized snows and ice-capped trees. The poet imagines a boy bending the branches while returning after herding his cows. The poet again mentions another boy bending the branches of trees in his father’s orchard. And this reminds the poet of his similar childhood experiences. The poet would like to go away from the earthly desires and then return to them after getting refreshed by swinging.

            He wants that no fate should misunderstand him and grant him only half of his desire so that he may be permitted to leave the earth but not to return to it. Earth is the right place to make love, and nowhere else love be fulfilled. He would like to go by climbing a birch tree, and would like to climb black branches up to the snow-white trunk toward heaven, until his burden becomes unbearable to the tree. Again he would come back from top to bottom and this would be a source of good joy for him both going and coming back. One could do worse if one did not like to be a swinger of birches.  He expresses his desire to go away from this world of responsibilities and return to his childhood once again so that he can start his life afresh from the beginning. He wants the fates to grant him a half wish as he doesn’t want to go away permanently from this world but to come back again because, after some considerations, he reconciles to the idea that earth is the best place for love.

            The theme or the central idea of birches is the interrelationship between reality & imagination. The poet knows very well that the bending of birches can only be brought about by an ice storm. Yet, he prefers to think that it is done by some energetic prankster. The poem illustrates the poet’s ability to take what seems to be mundane activities of life & turn it into something that holds a deeper meaning. The poem revolves around a boy living in the countryside “whose only play was what he found himself,” in this case, riding birch branches. On a deeper & figurative level, we also find the theme of life & death underlying in the poem. The poet writes a lot of meditations on life & death bringing forth some elements of spirituality. Moreover, Birches is a poem about Truth.

            Truth is at times cold and uninviting. A pinch of fantasy makes the truth appealing. In this poem, we find the tendency of human escapism. The poet cannot avoid returning to the “truth” and responsibilities of the ground. He wishes for a temporary escape either as an imaginative writer or a climber of birches. He is ready to face reality after his brief suspension of it.