Between Trees and Three Ravens

INTRODUCTION

There are many kinds of poems such as reflective or lyrical poetry is apiece of poem that represent a monologue (soliloquy) in which the speaker is speaking with himself and no other apparent characters are present. Ballad is a story written in verse. Sonnet is a lyric of fourteen lines. Narrative poetry is a piece of poem that represents a narrative story. Ode is a piece of poem that represents a celebration of victory. Elegy is a piece of poem that represents a lament of death. In this essay will discuss about the comparison and the contrast of two poems entitled Trees by Alfred Joyce Kilmer and Tree Ravens by Anonymous. 

DISCUSSION

1. Contrast

The Three Ravens is a kind of children ballad by anonymous and has twenty three lines. This ballad dates back to 1611 where it appears in Melismata. Musicall Phansies Fitting the Court, Cittie, and Countrey Humours by T. Ravenscroft. This ballad set almost entirely within an anthropomorphic world. It tells about three ravens have talking about their breakfast, but this ballad rather shows two ravens who function as ballad’s narrator than three ravens. It is showed in the eight to the end line: 

Then one of them said to his mate,
“Where shall we our breakfast take?”
“Downe in yonder greene field, There lies a knight slain under his shield……”

One of three ravens tells of a knight lying dead beneath his shield. They contemplate taking their breakfast on his body, but they are thwarted by the loyalty of the hounds that lie at his feet and of the hawks who circle the air whose keep their master from enemies in order to “there’s no fowle dare came nie”. Finally there emerges a fallow doe that drawn "as great with young as she might goe." She takes the knight on her back, carries him to "earthen lake," and buries him before dying herself. The Three ravens present in capsule form the dual role of anthropomorphic animals. The animals may be the allies of human being, but, on the other hand, they are different from the human world and hostile it. It is drawn in the twelve line to last line:

“His hounds they lie downe at his feete,
So well they can their master keepe.
“His haukes they flie so eagerly,
There’s no fowle dare him come nie.”
Downe there comes a fallow doe,
As great with young as she might goe.
She lift up his bloudy hed,
And kist his wounds that were so red.
She got him up upon her backe,
And carried him to earthen lake.
She buried him before the prime,
She was dead herselfe ere even-song time.
God send every gentleman, Such haukes, such hounds, and such a leman.

The ambiguous nature of the doe in this ballad allows for a variety of folkloric, historical, and allegoric interpretations, since the ballad makes no attempt to mediate between her animal and her human characteristics. Instead, it presents her so matter-of-factly that it is scarcely possible to say whether she is intended as a woman metaphorically identified as a doe, or whether she is in fact a deer possessed of human traits. The Three Ravens incorporate the dual symbols of life and death, but she also functions within another metaphoric sphere, that of the hunt. In this ballad, the presence of hawks and hounds, the usual animal companions of the hunter, suggests that the slaying of the knight occurred while he was engaged in the chase. This point to the fallow doe as the likely object of the hunt. Deer hunting was traditionally considered the sport of the nobility--and the deer, along with the boar, is the most frequently hunted animal in mediaeval epics and romances. The beauty of the deer, as well as its inherent vulnerability, highlights the paradox of the love-hunt in which the intended prey is also the beloved. The behavior of the doe to the knight in The Three Ravens is full of tenderness and self-sacrifice. The doe is thus victim and redeemer, quarry and lover, animal and human. While, Trees has difference from The Three Ravens. 

Trees was written by Alfred Joyce Kilmer an American journalist, poet, literary critic, lecturer and editor. He was born on December 6 in 1886 and died on July 30 in 1918. Tress has twelve lines of eight syllables in strict iambic tetrameter. The poem's rhyme scheme is rhyming couplets rendered aa bb cc dd ee aa. Despite its deceptive simplicity in rhyme and meter, Trees is notable for its use of personification and anthropomorphic imagery. Alfred Joyce Kilmer wrote this poem when he was fascinated with the trees as he opened his window one day that morning. According to Kilmer’s son, Kenton, the poem was not inspired by specific tree, but many trees. The room where he wrote that poem is a room where the window looked out down a hill which can be seen many trees. The idea of writing this poem personifying a person’s trait or actions to intimate object, a tree where he found it as a lovely idea. It is showed in these lines:

A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breasts.

A tree gets its water for nourishment on the ground for survival.
“A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed” represents the roots clinging on to the ground while it drinks the “earth’s sweet flowing” which represents water that nourishes the life of the tree. In connection with this, just like us, humans, we get our sustenance from the earth’s abundance and resources. These give us the strength of life for it nourishes plants and other beings. As such, it is also referred to as the Mother Earth. "A tree looks at God all day And lifts her leafy arms to pray." A tree grows upward and thus seem to be reaching to God. People from all walks of life though of different races, cultures, colors or beliefs, are reaching to God, praising, worshipping, praying and thanking Him for the bountiful blessings He gave to us. "A tree that may in summer wear A nest of robins in her hair." The trees’ thick foliage serves as shade and shelter for birds and other creatures. During summer time, birds rest on the “trees’ hair” which symbolizes the trees’ branches. "Under whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain." During winter, snow falls thus covering the trees especially its trunk. Being sturdy, trees withstand the cold. When the rain comes, trees grow better and healthier. Their leaves are not only becoming greener but also shinier. The tree “intimately lives with rain” because rain nourishes it and makes it luxuriant.
"Poems are made by fools like me But only God can make a tree." A person can never make a tree because he/she is not God. Only God has the power to create a perfect natural form like a tree. “Fools” was the term used by the Alfred Joyce Kilmer to describe poets just like him, who loves to write poems as lovely as a tree. In as much that, it comes from a person’s product of his creations and imaginations. 

2. Comparison 

Both poems have similarities. In the two last lines tells about the great of God. In The Three Ravens tells how He is very glory and kind to send such good kind. God send every gentleman, Such haukes, such hounds, and such a leman. In the Trees tells about how He is the only one who can create beautiful world and no one can contest Him. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree. Both poems also use anthropomorphic. In The Three Ravens use anthromorponic animals are haukes, hounds and doe. In Trees use anthromorponic imagery like “A tree whose hungry”, “the earth's sweet flowing breast”, “A tree that looks at God all day”, “lifts her leafy arms to pray”, “bosom snow has lain”, and “A nest of robins in her hair.”

3. Conclusion

Poem is a literary work that reflected human life written in verse. Three Ravens and Trees has different each other in structural elements, content and the use of symbol. Three Ravens use anthromopic animal to draw human life, than Trees use anthromopic imagery. But, both poems have similarity. Both poems show the God’s great in creating this earth and make all of the beautiful things in this world. It is shown in two last lines in the poems.

Written by Khusnul Khotimah