NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Poem On Killing a Tree

NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Poem On Killing a Tree are given below. This chapter contains many questions that are essential for exams. Our expert teachers answered all the questions with a detailed explanation that help students to complete their assignments and homework. We have also provided NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English On Killing a Tree You in PDF format so that you can download them for offline use.

On Killing a Tree Class 9 NCERT Questions and Answers

Thinking about Poem

I.  

Question 1: Can a “simple jab of the knife” kill a tree? Why not? 

Answer: No, a simple jab of a knife cannot kill a tree because it takes many years for a tree to grow and rise out of the earth. Moreover, only a chop cannot kill it because it will slowly rise again and grow to its original size.  

Question 2: How has the tree grow to its full size? List the words suggestive of its life and activity. 

Answer: The tree grows to its full size by absorbing years of sunlight, water, and air. It slowly grows out of the earth and sprouts leaves. The words suggestive of its life and activity are ‘grown   slowly consuming the earth’, ‘rising out of it’, ‘feeding upon its crust’, ‘absorbing years of sunlight, air, water’, and ‘sprouting leaves’. 

Question 3: What is the meaning of “bleeding bark”? What makes it bleed? 

Answer: “Bleeding bark” refers to the area on the tree trunk where it has been hit with the axe. It bleeds because the wood cutter has wounded the tree by cutting and chopping it.  

Question 4: The poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza. What does he mean by this? 

Answer: The poet says “No” in the beginning of the third stanza. It emphasizes that only cutting or chopping the tree will not cease its existence.

Question 5: What is the meaning of “anchoring earth” and “earth cave”? 

Answer:  The “anchoring earth” means that the earth works as an anchor to protect the tree and saves it from getting uprooted.

“Earth cave” implies the depth of the mother earth where the tree spreads its roots and gets nurtured.

Question 6: What does he mean by “the strength of the tree exposed”?

Answer: The strength of the tree lies in its roots, which the poet asks to snap out in order to kill the tree. Thus, the phrase “the strength of the tree exposed” refers to the roots of the tree being exposed to sunlight and air.  

Question 7: What finally kills the tree? 

Answer: The tree is finally killed by the uprooting of its roots. When the roots, which had anchored it lying hidden in the earth for years, were dug out, the tree’s strength was exposed and this led  to the death of the tree. It dried up after it had been uprooted.