Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Linda Pastan’s poem "Family Tree" is a haunting meditation on mortality, change, and the relentless passage of time. In this poem, Pastan employs the imagery of leaves and trees to explore the inevitable cycle of life and death, connecting the natural world to the human experience of loss and renewal. The poem’s tone is reflective, tinged with a somber acceptance of the transitory nature of existence, as it contemplates the balance between life’s gifts and its inevitable takings.

The poem opens with the speaker pondering the number of leaves "death has undone already"—a phrase that immediately sets a mournful tone. The leaves, symbolizing life, have been "raked into funeral pyres and burned," an image that evokes the ritualistic nature of death and the finality it brings. The specific mention of various trees—poplar, maple, oak—roots the poem in the tangible, physical world, yet the leaves themselves are ephemeral, easily gathered and discarded. These leaves, "like the maps of small countries" the speaker will never visit, suggest the missed opportunities, the paths not taken, and the lives that have ended before their time. The metaphor of leaves as "palm-shaped leaves whose life lines have run out" emphasizes this connection between the natural and the human, linking the fleeting life of a leaf with the idea of fate or destiny, as traced in the lines of a hand.

As the poem continues, Pastan broadens the scope of this reflection, considering "How many leaves / in the long autumn retreat," have been swept away by the wind. The "long autumn retreat" symbolizes the slow but inevitable decline of life, a retreat from the vibrancy of summer into the decay of winter. The leaves' "brown uniforms crisp" evoke the image of soldiers in retreat, defeated by the advancing forces of time. The wind, a recurring symbol of change and the passage of time in literature, scatters these leaves "like drying shells at the edge of a grassy surf," a simile that blends the imagery of earth and sea, suggesting both the erosion of life and the washing away of its remnants.

The mention of specific trees—cherry, sumac, elm—adds a layer of personal connection, as if the speaker is cataloging the losses of individual lives, each leaf representing a person or a moment that has passed. The "tear-shaped or burned out stars" leaves further reinforce the theme of loss, likening the leaves to tears or extinguished stars, both of which are potent symbols of grief and endings. Meanwhile, the trunks of the trees "grow fat and the branches shake," indicating that life continues to thrive even as individual leaves fall, suggesting a tension between the persistence of life and the inevitability of death.

The poem reaches a personal climax as the speaker stands "on a New Year's day," a moment traditionally associated with hope and new beginnings, yet finds herself "unwilling to drink to a year / that will bring me one new life but take another back." This line encapsulates the central tension of the poem—the coexistence of life and death, joy and sorrow. The anticipation of new life is overshadowed by the certainty of loss, a stark reminder that each beginning is paired with an ending. The act of counting the leaves, specifically "walnut ash," becomes an act of remembrance, as each leaf represents a life, a story, or a memory that has contributed to the long narrative of existence.

The final lines of the poem—"the chorus of silent throats telling again / and again the long story of smoke"—leave the reader with a powerful image of persistence amid decay. The "silent throats" of the leaves, now fallen and dead, continue to tell their story through the smoke of the funeral pyres. Smoke, a byproduct of fire, represents both the destruction and the lingering presence of what was once alive. This image suggests that even in death, there is a continuity, a way in which the past is carried forward, though it may be in a form as insubstantial as smoke.

"Family Tree" thus becomes a profound meditation on the cyclical nature of life, the inevitability of death, and the bittersweetness of memory. Through the imagery of leaves, trees, and the natural world, Pastan explores the complex emotions that accompany the awareness of our own mortality and the losses we endure. The poem invites readers to reflect on the delicate balance between holding on and letting go, as we navigate the changing seasons of our lives, counting the leaves that have fallen while recognizing the ones that remain.

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