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Throwing a Tree by Thomas Hardy

Preppatration Time:

50 Minutes

Revision Time:

20 Minutes

Class:

Lesson:

Class 7 – English Literature (Paul Academy)

Poetry

About the Lesson

Thomas Hardy’s “Cutting — Throwing a Tree” is a poignant and realistic poem that portrays the felling of a 200-year-old tree. Through vivid imagery and deep emotion, Hardy turns a simple act of woodcutting into a symbolic reflection on humanity’s careless destruction of nature.

Text/Analysis/ Summary/ Theme

Sunset scene. The giant stump lies in the foreground, concentric rings glowing in amber light. A young boy in a school uniform plants a small sapling beside it, watering it gently. The air golden, peaceful, reflective. Butterflies flutter; distant hills fade into haze. Symbolic composition of loss and renewal. — Victorian woodcutters approach a marked oak tree on a misty hill, axes glinting in the early morning light. The scene is infused with a solemn atmosphere as the towering 200-year-old tree stands against a backdrop of a misty valley.

Woodcutters striking the first blows on the trunk of a giant tree, wood chips flying around. — Woodcutters expertly strike their axes into the colossal trunk of a giant tree, sending a burst of wood chips into the air as sunlight filters through the dense forest canopy.

Woodcutters striking the first blows on the trunk of a giant tree, — A determined lumberjack swings his axe with precision, chipping away at the massive tree as onlookers observe the widening notch marked with an “X.”

Questions &Answrs/ MCQs/Reference/ Assessment

Two men sawing through a tree trunk as the branches tremble in sunlight. — Two lumberjacks expertly wield a saw at the base of a majestic tree, their efforts slowly causing it to tremble against the backdrop of a serene, sunlit landscape.

All six men are now working together, kneeling and pulling a thick rope tied to the half-cut trunk. The rope stretches taut, and the men strain backward with all their might. The tree leans slightly, its leaves rustling loudly as if crying out. A sense of tragic unity is captured in both man’s strength and nature’s surrender. — Six men unite in a powerful struggle, pulling a taut rope to bring down a mighty tree, its branches swaying as if in lament amidst the serene forest.

Five men pull a rope tied to a large tree in a grassy field. They're wearing hats and vests. The sunny setting conveys determination. — In the warm glow of a mid-afternoon sun, a group of determined men strain against a taut rope tied high around a large oak trunk, working in synchrony to bring it down. Dust rises from the grassy knoll, capturing the intensity and effort of the moment.

Four men watch a large tree fall in a sunlit forest, surrounded by falling leaves and dust. Bright, serene atmosphere. — The enormous tree collapses in a flurry of flying leaves and dust, as sunlight pierces through the chaos. Nearby trees sway and birds scatter, while workers watch in awe, capturing the epic scale and energy of the scene.

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