Pine Forest by Gabriela Mistral

[Freudian Monkey]

Bosque del pino

Ahora entremos el bosque.
Los árboles pasarán por su cara,
y les pararé y ofreceré,
pero no pueden doblarse abajo.
Los relojes de la noche sobre sus criaturas,
a excepción de los árboles del pino que nunca cambian:
los viejos resortes heridos que sueltan
bendijeron la goma, tardes eternas.
Si podrían, los árboles le levantarían
y le llevarían del valle al valle,
y usted pasaría del brazo al brazo,
niño que funciona de padre al padre.

Pine Forest

Let us go now into the forest.
Trees will pass by your face,
and I will stop and offer you to them,
but they cannot bend down.
The night watches over its creatures,
except for the pine trees that never change:
the old wounded springs that spring
blessed gum, eternal afternoons.
If they could, the trees would lift you
and carry you from valley to valley,
and you would pass from arm to arm,
a child running
from father to father.


This is without a doubt one of my favorite poems. I'd like to hear your opinions and interpretations of it. Is it a poem that simply praises nature's beauty or do the trees and the people represent something else entirely?

[Darcy88]

Bosque del pino

Ahora entremos el bosque.
Los árboles pasarán por su cara,
y les pararé y ofreceré,
pero no pueden doblarse abajo.
Los relojes de la noche sobre sus criaturas,
a excepción de los árboles del pino que nunca cambian:
los viejos resortes heridos que sueltan
bendijeron la goma, tardes eternas.
Si podrían, los árboles le levantarían
y le llevarían del valle al valle,
y usted pasaría del brazo al brazo,
niño que funciona de padre al padre.

Pine Forest

Let us go now into the forest.
Trees will pass by your face,
and I will stop and offer you to them,
but they cannot bend down.
The night watches over its creatures,
except for the pine trees that never change:
the old wounded springs that spring
blessed gum, eternal afternoons.
If they could, the trees would lift you
and carry you from valley to valley,
and you would pass from arm to arm,
a child running
from father to father.


This is without a doubt one of my favorite poems. I'd like to hear your opinions and interpretations of it. Is it a poem that simply praises nature's beauty or do the trees and the people represent something else entirely?

I think it does more than praise nature's beauty. The poem speaks to me of the unity between man and nature, the primordial relationship that we have with the trees and the greater natural setting. For all our civilized ways and inventions we still come from nature, are a part of nature. We are children, the trees fathers, in that the trees came before, and without the trees we would not have life.

Also, there is a presence to nature, especially in trees. I spend a lot of time out among the trees and have tried before to express this sense I get of their majesty. They are stationary and silent and yet they have this force to them, even if only within my mind. They are marvels, trees are. They are imposing, massively imposing, and yet they seem rather friendly, like happy giants.

I really like those last few lines:

If they could, the trees would lift you
and carry you from valley to valley,
and you would pass from arm to arm,
a child running
from father to father.

[Freudian Monkey]

I think it does more than praise nature's beauty. The poem speaks to me of the unity between man and nature, the primordial relationship that we have with the trees and the greater natural setting. For all our civilized ways and inventions we still come from nature, are a part of nature. We are children, the trees fathers, in that the trees came before, and without the trees we would not have life.

Also, there is a presence to nature, especially in trees. I spend a lot of time out among the trees and have tried before to express this sense I get of their majesty. They are stationary and silent and yet they have this force to them, even if only within my mind. They are marvels, trees are. They are imposing, massively imposing, and yet they seem rather friendly, like happy giants.

I really like those last few lines:

If they could, the trees would lift you
and carry you from valley to valley,
and you would pass from arm to arm,
a child running
from father to father.

Thank you Darcy, I also especially appreciate the intimate way this poem portrays the relationship between people and nature. There is a sense of awe before something transcendental, something that's greater than ourselves, yet we are a part of it.

I see the first sentence being crucial for the interpretation. Let us go now into the forest. The first-person plural 'entremos' indicates that the actor is a part of a collective and that they're all venturing into the forest. Throughout the poem this element of journeying is present. Even though trees cannot pick you up and carry you, that is clearly what they would do if they could - so the destination is somewhere further away. Children run from father to father, they don't stay still and expect the father to come to them - the whole idea is absurd. The child reaches out to father naturally, it's a part of his journey.

This journey, as I see it, is the journey to adulthood. It a journey to understand and respect one's roots, but also a journey to higher understanding of one's own role in this complex tapestry of life. In poetry and mythology, forest often represents the unknown, which is always frightening. Yet we all have to move forward in our lives, toward the unknown, and it's comforting to know that we're not alone in our journey. Those who have gone before us cannot help us, but we can still feel their presence as if they would be cheering for us when we strive forward in our lives. The journey is always the same, something timeless, yet it's still unique in every individual's life.