Like a Tree which is (not) and A River that Flows (not) - Sanjay Mukherjee

Literature emerged as one of the earliest opposites of nature, and yet according to this working paper, it has been one of the earliest and most significant appositional elements vis-à-vis nature. It is difficult to measure all of nature (ecological, or, for that matter, human) in literary works; similarly, a paper or even a book would be grossly inadequate measuring up literature on nature. So, this paper would confine itself to two recurring natural motifs that have fascinated poets / writers over the ages: the tree, and the river, and arrive at certain tentative observations through a selection of Indian, British, and American poems. The metaphor of flowing time like the river and that of being rooted to a place like a tree have been used in countless works. Conversely, the absence of these two elements of nature is seen to be apocalyptic and damning. The paper would attempt an accommodation of these two oppositional / appositional thoughts.