THE GIRL.

The tree has entered my hands,
The sap has ascended my arms,
The tree has grown in my breast -
Downward,
The branches grow out of me, like arms.

Tree you are,
Moss you are,
You are violets with wind above them.
A child - so high - you are,
And all this is folly to the world. 

The first verse describes the union between the tree and the poet. It may also suggest the present/future union he has with a family tree growing out of his love. In the first line he appears to be holding the tree tenderly in his hands as it sways towards him. The next line is more intimate, as he reaches up to her; he finds her blood is flowing through his veins. For both trees and men have veins. The metaphor continues, we see image of a love that has invaded the core of a human’s heart as deeply as the sap penetrates the heartwood of a tree. This love roots him. He will not leave her. Indeed, he cannot even if he wants to. Their love is a branching, embracing love. These branches are their limbs, but they are also branches on the family tree. The branches are children, growing out of and embraced by love of his hear.

In the second verse, the poet speaks to the tree girl herself. Instead of “the” tree being described for her, she IS the tree. Moss speaks of old age and the passage of time. Moss takes time to grow, time spent standing still. Alternatively, one can interpret this verse as a conversation between the man and his tree girl. She is the young tree; he is an old man with a mossy beard. Violets speak of eye color and fragrance, which is released by the wind. Thus suffering only serves to make her more beautiful and attractive, their love stronger. The flowers grow below on the earth, not above where the limbs embrace and reach up to the sky. The wind plays freely with the woman’s hair, as it tangles tree branches in a chaos in the gale. The tree-girl is innocent and child-like. She is like a child climbing, growing, achieving. Though she is supported by her older and more experienced lover, she lifts him up too. The world doesn't understand them.