Trees - W.S. Merwin

I am looking at trees

they may be one of the things I will miss

most from the earth

though many of the ones I have seen

already I cannot remember

and though I seldom embrace the ones I see

and have never been able to speak

with one

I listen to them tenderly

their names have never touched them

they have stood round my sleep

and when it was forbidden to climb them

they have carried me in their branches

Analysis: The title of this poem is pretty straight forward. "Trees" it is about how man destroy nature and how soon it will be missed. The narrator talks about how trees will be missed soon and that even the speaker agrees that trees are no longer a part of his life, however there is still an ongoing love. His thought of "trees" is  a give and take relationship; "they may e one of the things I will miss" - "they have carried me in their branches". The author gives a nostalgic feeling (the trees being missed yet the relationship lives on). At first I got the feeling that the trees were already gone and the environment was all destroyed but the second time reading it, the poem gave the intention that the trees are not yet gone and trees still give life to people. Revisiting the title, the poem shows how we help trees and trees help us. Theme of this poem is "Environment".

I Have Learned So Much

I
Have
Learned
So much from God
That I can no longer
Call
Myself

A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim,
A Buddhist, a Jew.

The Truth has shared so much of Itself
With me

That I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel,
Or even pure
Soul.

Love has
Befriended Hafiz so completely
It has turned to ash
And freed
Me

Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known.

Analysis: When God shows you the world, you feel free. You are no longer bounded by lines drawn to separate humans. No longer a Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew shows that we are no longer one specific religion but one which overviews everything, which reminded me of the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. This poem kind of shows how big the world is, how much there is to Truth.

The Only Material - Hafiz (The Gift)

What

A

Skilled man can do with a

Hammer

The advanced pilgrim can do with

Thought.

One builds their own seat in the world

Using God-

The only material

That is

E

v

e

r

y

w

h

e

r

e

.

Analysis: I think this poem states that every human being is capable of doing whatever. However the path they chose to be (like becoming a carpenter) is determined upon God who is only one yet present everywhere.