Symbol Analysis
Plants seem important to this poem, and we don't mean the potted kind either. Half of the poem's stanzas focus on plants you would find in nature, even if they're just in someone's garden: roses and trees. Both are pretty common symbols in poetry, but our speaker is asking some pretty unconventional questions about these things. It's almost as if he's trying to get us to consider them in a new light. Hmm
- Lines 1-2: A rose by any other poet would probably represent something hokey like love, but that's not what's going on in these lines. The speaker is pushing us to think about the reality of appearances, and the appearance of reality. Is what we see really all there is to see? Inquiring minds want to know.
- Lines 4-5: Again, we get a personified plant. This time, we have trees who hide their roots. Why do you do that, trees? Is it because roots can only work when they're in the dirt? Does that mean that hidden things are more important than things on the surface? Why is the speaker asking us? Where is the answer key to this darn thing?