Binsey Poplars Sadness Quotes

The poem begins with an epigraph that's like something you would see on a tombstone. Sure, we're not in the habit of burying trees (they're a lot more useful to us above ground), but a sad, mournful tone is set right from the poem's beginning.

We move from a mournful epigraph to a poignant reminder of how meaningful these trees were to our speaker. They were dear to him, like friends might be. As such, their loss is rendered more impactful, and sadder, to us readers.

The repetition of "felled" in this line really drives home the speaker's mournful state. He's simply run out of words to describe the awfulness of losing these trees, yet he can't get his mind off of them.