Class 10 English First Flight Chapter 7 Previous Year Questions - The Trees

Ans: The simile compares the boughs to patients just released from a hospital, emphasizing their weakness and hesitation after a long period of confinement. This highlights the central theme of liberation — the trees struggle but persist in breaking free from the house to return to their natural habitat. The image evokes empathy and reinforces the message that freedom often comes with effort and pain, yet it is necessary for a natural and fulfilling existence.

Ans: (B) transition and uncertainty

The imagery and descriptions in the poem create a mood of (b) transition and uncertainty.
The phrases “strain toward the glass” and “half-dazed” show a movement from captivity to freedom, but with hesitation and effort. This creates a sense of transition, where the outcome is not fully clear, reflecting the uncertainty of change.

Ans: Struggle

The stiff movement of the twigs in the above extract suggests the struggle.
The word “stiff” and the phrase “with exertion” together convey how difficult and effortful the trees’ movement is, symbolizing their fight to escape confinement.

Ans: The word “shuffling” suggests slow, dragging, and hesitant movement. By using this word, the poet shows that the boughs are weak and cautious, much like patients recovering from a long illness. It emphasizes the difficulty of their journey toward freedom and highlights the unnatural confinement they have endured indoors.

Ans: The imagery creates a calm and peaceful atmosphere. Phrases like “doors open,” “the night is fresh,” and “the whole moon shines” suggest stillness and quiet acceptance of change. The poet observes the trees’ departure with serenity, which gives the moment a sense of dignity and natural transition.

Ans: (C) allowing access and vision - expanse of space

The first “open” refers to the doors being physically open, allowing entry and view of the veranda, while the second describes the vast and limitless night sky.

Ans: The departure of the forest from the house.

The extract explicitly states that the speaker is “writing long letters in which I scarcely mention the departure of the forest from the house.” This indicates that the significant event of the trees moving out is conspicuously absent or barely addressed in the letters, highlighting the speaker’s detachment or reluctance to fully acknowledge the trees’ liberation.

Ans: (C) 4 and 5

The poet describes the night as “fresh” in the line “the night is fresh,” evoking a sense of clarity and vitality. The phrase “the whole moon shines” implies brightness, as the moonlight illuminates the scene. Thus, “fresh” and “bright” (option C) accurately describe the night, while “dark,” “frightening,” and “dense” do not align with the serene imagery.

Ans: Both texts deal with the struggle to break free from confinement and reclaim freedom. In Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela fights against apartheid, leading to the transformation of an entire nation through resilience, hope, and sacrifice. In The Trees, Adrienne Rich shows nature rebelling against human-imposed captivity, as the trees slowly and persistently move out to reclaim the forest.

Both works emphasize the universal desire for freedom and the strength needed to overcome barriers. While Mandela represents human courage and societal change, the trees symbolize nature’s quiet but powerful resistance, reminding us that transformation is a natural and unstoppable process.

Ans: Departure of the forest

The poet uses the metaphor “the departure of the forest from the house” to describe the trees’ movement from the indoor, confined space to the natural world outside. The poet uses this metaphor to show that the movement of the trees is not random but a collective, purposeful journey toward freedom — almost like a migration — emphasizing unity and determination.

Ans: Adrienne Rich’s tone is reflective and understated, presenting the conflict between man and nature as an unnatural imposition of human control, with nature quietly asserting its freedom through the trees’ determined movement.

The tone in The Trees is calm yet poignant, as seen in lines like “I sit inside, doors open to the veranda,” where the speaker observes the trees’ escape with detachment. This suggests a subtle critique of human attempts to confine nature (e.g., keeping trees indoors), contrasted with nature’s persistent, quiet rebellion as the trees move toward freedom, highlighting the tension between human control and nature’s autonomy.

Ans: (A) Calm and tranquil
The imagery, such as “the night is fresh” and “the whole moon shines,” creates a serene and peaceful atmosphere, suggesting a calm backdrop to the trees’ movement. The speaker’s quiet observation of the trees’ departure further reinforces a tranquil mood, ruling out eerie, joyful, or melancholic tones.

Ans: The whispers would be silent tomorrow because the trees, which create the whispers as they move, will have completed their departure from the house to the forest, leaving the indoor space empty.
The “whispers” refer to the sounds produced by the trees’ leaves and branches as they strain to move out, as described in the poem. Once the trees successfully escape to the forest, their movement and the resulting sounds cease within the house, leading to silence “tomorrow,” symbolizing the completion of their liberation.

Ans: In "The Trees," Adrienne Rich uses trees as a metaphor for human resilience, growth, and liberation.  

They symbolise:

• The ability of humans to transform and free themselves from limitations.
• The welcoming of new beginnings and opportunities.
• The journey of reconnecting with nature, reflecting the trees' movement from captivity to the forest.

Ans: (iv)
The Trees is a poem by Adrienne Rich that explores themes of nature, freedom, and the environment.

Ans: (i)
In the poem, "the crown of the tallest oak" refers to the uppermost branches of the tree, symbolizing its height and grandeur.

Ans: trees
The winds in the poem are described as rushing to meet the trees, symbolizing the movement and freedom of nature.

Ans: Flash
The word "flash" in the poem conveys the meaning of something shining or reflecting light, like pieces of the broken moon.

Ans: The trees are trying to move out into the forest.

Ans: The forest was empty because there were no trees, birds or insects and it is because humans have destroyed the forest for building cities and other uses.

Ans: (ii)
The forest is described as empty because it lacks the natural flora and fauna that would usually inhabit it.

Ans: (iii)
The poet personifies the trees, giving them human-like qualities of moving and leaving, which is characteristic of personification.

Ans: The poet is writing long letters probably to keep herself busy in some activity. She does not mention the departure of the trees in her long letters because she doesn't want anyone to know that the trees inside her house are rebelling and fighting their way out to reach the forest. The trees struggle silently at night to break free from their captivity when no one is watching them. She wants the trees to be liberated and be one with nature where they belong. Therefore, she feels that it is best not to say a word about it to anybody.

Ans: In a treeless forest, no birds could sit, no insect could hide and no sun could bury its feet in shadow.

Ans: The trees are inside the house. The roots, leaves, twigs, etc. all are trying to make an escape from the house. The roots disengage themselves from the cracks in the veranda floor, leaves strain towards the glass, small twigs and boughs move to the doors.

Ans: When the trees move out of the house, the doors remain open. The moonlight, the smell of the leaves, and lichen enter the rooms.

Ans:  (a) The poet compares the branches to the newly discharged patients.
(b) Simile - boughs are compared with the patients.
(c) Shuffling means moving repeatedly from one position to another/ mixing up.

Ans:  (a) In a treeless forest, no birds could sit, no insect could hide and no sun could bury its feet in shadow.
(b) The forests are empty because the trees have been cut down to create land for buildings, houses, etc. in other words, expansion of cities.
(c) Hide means to hide from view.