What does the fir tree say?

            A small child, innocent and trusting, proudly holds up a trinket for display, hoping to impress the gawking audience.  This mere bauble holds little monetary value, but it is the child’s most prized possession.  Suddenly, a thief snatches the trinket.  The child looks up with tear-filled eyes, surprised, shaking, unable to speak.  This scene seems to be suggested by Emily Dickinson’s poem “Who Robbed the Woods,” in which the innocence of nature is contrasted with the grasping curiosity and outright robbery perpetrated by an unnamed male thief.  

             In Dickinson’s poem, the woods, like a trusting child, proudly displays burrs and mosses to impress a visitor.  The poem states that "The unsuspecting trees / brought out their burrs and mosses / his fantasy to please" (Dickinson).  The visitor then betrayed this trust and took what belonged to the woods.  At first glance, the poem positions the reader to sympathize with the forest, to share in the speechless outrage expressed by the fir and hemlock.  

But really, what was the harm of taking a few burrs and mosses?  Have you ever picked up a vibrant fall leaf and carried it home?  Collected a few pretty pine cones to put in a bowl on the end-table in the living room?  The visitor "scanned their trinkets, curious" (Dickinson).  Perhaps he simply admired the beauty of nature.  Perhaps he wanted to learn more about nature.  Perhaps he did not know that he had offended the trees.  Perhaps he truly did not intend any harm.  

If the visitor was not truly an evil villain bent on intentional destruction, what is the meaning of the poem?  Perhaps it represents a disconnect between humans and nature.  He was curious about nature, but he did not understand the full implications of his actions.  He may have admired the beauty of the woods, but he did not fully appreciate the tenderness and fragility of the natural world.  Nature, like a small child, should be cared for.  In the appreciation of Nature, is not enough simply to visit and carry off a trinket.  

Dickinson’s poem promotes a respect and reverence for nature, as a sentient, living entity.  Nature’s beauty, even to the small curious details, the burrs, the moss, the pine cones, should be respected as belonging to nature.  There may be many beautiful wildflowers growing freely in a park, and it may not seem like taking a handful would do any harm.  But if every visitor took a handful, there would be fewer flowers for future visitors to enjoy.  If all the burrs, pine cones, and other seed containers were removed, plants would not be able to reproduce.  When interacting with nature, as well as with our fellow humans as we go about our ordinary daily lives, it is important to remember that even our smallest actions can have significant effects. 

Works Cited

Dickinson, Emily.  “Who Robbed the Woods.” Bartleby.com. http://www.bartleby.com/113/2017.html