33. On Planting a Tree | English | Class 4

Summary:

The poem “Dear Little Tree” reflects upon the future of a sapling planted today. It imagines the tree as a valuable resource for various creatures, serving as a savings bank for squirrels and mice, an apartment house for birds like robin and wren, a dressing room for butterflies, and a concert hall for insects like locusts and katydid. The tree is seen as a adaptable and essential part of nature, providing a ladder for schoolboys in the month of May, a tent for schoolgirls on holidays, and eventually, its leaves will tell a happy story of the children who had planted it. The poem honors the interdependence of nature and the lasting influence of a simple act of planting.

-Adapted from ‘An Arbour Day Tree’

“An Arbor Day Tree” is a poem written by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, an American poet, novelist, and editor.

Meanings:

1. dressing room : a place to change (dress)
2. locust : a large insect that lives in hot countries and flies in group
3. katydid : an insect similar to a cricket
4. a concert hall : a place to sing
5. merrily : happily

Q1. How do the various birds, animals and children make use of the tree ?
Write about it in short.

ANS:

1. Birds: The robin and wren will use the tree as a house to live in.

The butterfly will use if as a dressing room to get ready for its dance.

The locust and katydid will use it as a concert hall, to sing their song.

2. Animals:

The squirrel and the mouse will use the tree as its saving bank in which they store their food for future use.

3. Children

The schoolboy uses it as a ladder and the schoolgirl as a tent.

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