Our Casuarina Tree is a poem by Toru Dutt, an Indian poet. The poem gives an objective description of the tree and the charm associated with poet’s childhood. It begins with an account of the giant tree with a creeper wrapped around it like a huge python. It is the centre of busy life of birds and beasts. The tree is depicted as grand and charming. It has become dear to the poet because of the memories that surround it – memories of a time when happy children played under its shade.
The thought brings out an intense yearning for the playmates, who are now no more alive.
For their sake, the tree has become a symbol of their memory. The tree is an immortal memory of the poets joyous past which the cruel waves of time had swept away. The last stanza unfolds a desire of the poet for the immortality of the tree – May Love defend thee from Oblivion’s curse.
In the poem the poet celebrates the beauty and the majesty of the tree. She uses the medium of the tree to receive her memories of the past. The poet attempts to recapture the happy time of her childhood in the company of her siblings – Abju and Aru.
She immortalises those glorious moments of happiness by recalling the memory of the tree. The emphasis goes beyond that one tree. In this poem, the poet delicately recaptures the past and binds it to her present. The tree has been made immortal by Toru dutt. The first two stanzas scrutinize the tree objectively. The following two subjectively analyses its relation with the poetess’ own state of being. It connects the immortal tree to the mortal siblings, and thereby renders them immortal.