Two Trees By Don Paterson.

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Two Trees by Don Paterson
Don Paterson has written a poem about two trees. In the first stanza, he describes how Don Miguel woke up one morning bearing in his mind that he had to perform grafting of the orange to the lemon tree. It took Miguel a whole day duration to work on the grafting process as described in the first stanza on the fourth line (Paterson 385). This is an indication that Miguel is a very hard working person. It forms a happy tone at the start given that grafting of the two trees is a great idea.
In the second stanza, there is a sequence of bad things that take place showing how the two trees were separated by the man who bought the house, which creates a sad tone in the poem. The unknown man seems to be portrayed as a villain. He creates a shadow figure as indicated in the poem. This is shown on the thirteenth line that he had no dreams (Paterson 385). And also on the fourteenth line, the decision he made to separate the tree is described as a “dark, malicious whim.” The poem analyzes the relationship between the two trees in its entire story.
The style of narrative which is similar to nursery rhyme shows a feeling that this story has been rooted from one generation to another. In the first stanza, it describes how the two trees came into existence. In the second stanza, the poet describes how the tree was destroyed by the man who was unnamed. The poem seems to be obviously about more than just two trees, and this is evident by the last line which indicates that the poem is all about trees.

This poem creates the theme of new life and death or separation. The poet has used allegory in the story to create a vision in the intricacy of the relationships between humans and their diverse stages from the beginning formation up to the time they depart. It is important for the trees found in both two stanzas to survive the agony, which signifies human resilience as alluded by Paterson. The poet has used trees as an appropriate symbol for they seem to be constantly exposed to the aspects, which means they have to cope with any harsh winters and weather storms.
The structure of this poem comprises of two stanzas with twelve lines each. The length of the lines is differing since others are longer and others shorter. For example, the sixth line in the first verse is longer than the rest while in the same stanza the twelfth line is shorter than the rest. Paterson has also used couplet rhyme scheme in this poem which appears in the pattern; “a,a, b,b, c,c, d,d,…” (Paterson 385). The use of the rhyme scheme creates a nursery rhyme which conveys a lyrical feeling.
The poet has used the repetition in the second last line; “They were trees, and trees don’t weep or Arche or shout.” The word trees have been repeated (Paterson 385). Paterson has also used alliteration to accomplish the structure of the poem. Furthermore, the speech sounds in the sequence of words allows the poem to be recited with appeal and more interest. Alliteration also creates a particular rhythm in the poem. In this case, there is the use of alliteration in line eighteen where the initial consonant sounds in words “branches and bear” are repeated hence creating a musical rhythm in the poem (Paterson 385).
Work cited
Paterson, Don. Two Trees. Poetry Foundation. Poetry Magazine. 61 West Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60654. Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/issue/71442/september-2007. Retrieved 21/01/2018.