My Own True Family by Ted Hughes is a unique poem that captures the interaction between the poet and a group of oak trees.
In this interaction, the poet represents the human beings and the oak trees. The oak trees held the poet responsible for their sufferings at the hands of the human beings. They threaten him to ‘root’ him ‘among the oaks’ if the poet does not swear that he would plant two oak trees when one is felled by his race.
We may well interpret the poem as an interaction between the artificial world and the natural world. The repressed voice of the natural world gets heard through the oak trees and transformed the poet’s mind and thought.
Stanza I
1. Where did the poet creep?
Ans: The poet crept in an oakwood.
2. What was the poet looking for?
Ans: The poet was looking for a stag.
3. Who did the poet meet there?
Ans: There the poet met an old woman.
4. Whom did the poet meet in an oakwood?
Ans: The poet met an old woman in an oakwood.
5. Where did the poet meet an old woman?
Ans: The poet met an old woman in an oakwood.
6. How did the old woman look like?
Ans: The old woman was ‘knobbly stick and rug.’
7. What did the old woman say to the poet?
Ans: The old woman told the poet that she had his secret there inside her little bag.
Stanza II
9. What did the old woman do after saying so?
Ans: She began to cackle.
10. What did the poet do when the old woman began to cackle?
Ans: The poet began to quake when the old woman began to cackle.
11. What did the poet find when he ‘came twice awake’?
Ans: The poet found himself ‘surrounded by a staring tribe and ‘he tied to a stake.’
12. What does the poet mean by ‘came twice awake’?
Ans: The poet became aware of a new reality which he was till unaware of.
Stanza III
13. What did the tribe say?
The tribe said that they were the oak trees and they were the poet’s own true family. They also said that they were chopped down, torn up.
14. What allegation did the tribe made against the poet?
Ans: They said that they were chopped down and torn up but the poet did not blink an eye.
15. How did they threaten the poet?
Ans: They asked him to make a promise to them otherwise he would die.
16. Who are the own true family of the poet?
Ans: The oak- trees are the own true family of the poet.
17. What does the poet mean by the phrase ‘own true family’?
Ans: The oak trees are the own true family of the poet. The poet represents the human beings and thus represents an artificial world. The oak-trees represent the natural world which has been abandoned by the human beings for the sake of the artificial world. The oak-trees that represent the natural world are the ‘own true family’ of the poet and the human beings in general because life thrives in natural world. Nature is the true relative of mankind.
18. What does the line ‘We are chopped down, we are torn up, you do not blink an eye.’ Signify?
Ans: This line indicates the poet’s indifferent attitude towards the destruction of oak-trees. The poet stands for the insensitive and careless attitude of the mankind towards the natural world.
Stanza IV
19. What are the promises the poet was asked to make?
Ans: The poet was asked to make the following promise -
Whenever the poet sees an oak-tree felled, the poet should plant two.
20. What was going to happen to the poet if he dares refuse to make such promise?
Ans: The oak-trees warned that if the poet did not make such promise, the black oak bark would wrinkle over the poet and root the poet among the oaks.
21. What does the phrase ‘….root you among the oaks where you were born but never grew.’ mean?
Ans: The phrase signifies that Mother Nature gives birth to human beings but they get detached from nature as they grew up.
22. What does the phrase ‘root you among the oaks where you were born’ mean?
Ans: The phrase indicates revenge taken by nature on human beings against the mistake committed by them.
Stanza V
23. What did the poet dream?
Ans: The poet dreamed that he ‘crept in an oakwood. There he met an old woman. The old woman opened up her little bag and the poet soon found himself tied to a stake. The tribe said that they were the oak-trees, the poet’s own true family. They alleged that the poet remained indifferent as they were chopped down and torn up. They then demanded that the poet make a promise that the poet have to plant two when an oak tree is felled. They also warned the poet of dire consequences if the poet ignores their demand.
24. What effect did the dream have on the poet?
Ans: The dream altered the poet. His heart felt for the tree. His body remained human though.
25. What does the phrase ‘my heart was a tree’ signify?
Ans: The phrase signifies a change in the thought process of the poet. As a member of the human society, he never felt for the tree that silently suffers from atrocities from the human beings. They are chopped down and torn up but bear the pain silently. After the dream, the poet’s heart has changed. It has become the heart of a tree. He now feels the pain suffered by the tree. The poet’s heart has undergone a silent transformation and has made him a more sensitive person.
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