THE POPLAR FIELD

In this poem, the poet expresses his sorrow to see the poplar tress lying on the field. He can’t hear the whispering sound of the cool colonnades. He can’t get there any shade. The Ouse can’t receive the shade of the trees on her bosom. The black bird has shifted its nest. It has fled to another shelter where the hazel serves him as screen from the heat. The poet can’t hear the echoing melody of the bird.

The poet feels that he is growing old. One day he will have to die and lie in his grave. The other trees will not have grown in the places of the trees felled by then. This makes him think that man’s pleasures and enjoyments that he derives from nature live shorter than human life. Thus, man should preserve nature.