Analysis Of Planting A Sequoia By Dana Gioia
Planting a Sequoia
Dana Gioia uses the premise of planting a tree to help the reader explore the connection between the opposing ideas of life and death, hope and loss.
The poem "Planting a Sequoia" by Dana Gioia is written from a fathers pespective . He reflects on the lose of his infant son and the grief he experiences as a result and how he deals with it. The poem has five stanza’s with five lines each which could refer to five stages of life, infant, child, teen, adult and old age. The poem is written in free verse which makes it seem like the father is talking directly to his son and the reader is being invited in to listen.
The first stanza introduces the narrator and his brothers who “all afternoon” have been “digging this hole”. …show more content…
Instead of planting "An olive or a fig tree" as Italian traditions dictates, the author planted "our native giant", a sequoia, "Defying the practical custom of our fathers", which suggests that something out of the ordinary, and perhaps sad had occurred, so the tradition was not followed. With the tree he plants a lock of his son’s hair and and the umbilical cord. Only now in the middle of the poem does it become apparent that the narrator is burying his son. In the exact centre of the poem is when we find this out which shows how the child was the centre of the narrators life. The mood and tone of the poem changed from being sad and mournful to showing hope and faith in the future. This stanza addresses the opposing ideas of life and death at the same time, as the two are directly linked by the planting of a sequoia tree alongside the burial of a lock of the child’s hair and his umbilical cord. Although th umbilical cord is a symbol of birth and new life, it represents death in this case which shows how life and death are …show more content…
Throughout the poem it’s not the tragedy of the child’s death that is stressed but the nurturing of the tree, of new life. The way the grief the narrator has is shown really makes the reader think about death in a different way and how it can bring new life, the love and care the family would have given the child they can give the tree. Instead of a huge outpouring of grief, loss and desperation which could be expected, there is a sorrow that is used to nurture new life that will outlive the ones planting it, like the son
Dana Gioia uses the premise of planting a tree to help the reader explore the connection between the opposing ideas of life and death, hope and loss.
The poem "Planting a Sequoia" by Dana Gioia is written from a fathers pespective . He reflects on the lose of his infant son and the grief he experiences as a result and how he deals with it. The poem has five stanza’s with five lines each which could refer to five stages of life, infant, child, teen, adult and old age. The poem is written in free verse which makes it seem like the father is talking directly to his son and the reader is being invited in to listen.
The first stanza introduces the narrator and his brothers who “all afternoon” have been “digging this hole”. …show more content…
Instead of planting "An olive or a fig tree" as Italian traditions dictates, the author planted "our native giant", a sequoia, "Defying the practical custom of our fathers", which suggests that something out of the ordinary, and perhaps sad had occurred, so the tradition was not followed. With the tree he plants a lock of his son’s hair and and the umbilical cord. Only now in the middle of the poem does it become apparent that the narrator is burying his son. In the exact centre of the poem is when we find this out which shows how the child was the centre of the narrators life. The mood and tone of the poem changed from being sad and mournful to showing hope and faith in the future. This stanza addresses the opposing ideas of life and death at the same time, as the two are directly linked by the planting of a sequoia tree alongside the burial of a lock of the child’s hair and his umbilical cord. Although th umbilical cord is a symbol of birth and new life, it represents death in this case which shows how life and death are …show more content…
Throughout the poem it’s not the tragedy of the child’s death that is stressed but the nurturing of the tree, of new life. The way the grief the narrator has is shown really makes the reader think about death in a different way and how it can bring new life, the love and care the family would have given the child they can give the tree. Instead of a huge outpouring of grief, loss and desperation which could be expected, there is a sorrow that is used to nurture new life that will outlive the ones planting it, like the son