7

(Discuss the significance of the last line of “The Orange Tree”)

“ – Silence! the young girl said. Oh, why,
Why will you talk to weary me?
Plague me no longer now, for I
Am listening like the Orange Tree.”

As is the case with all art, one’s personal interpretation of the theme or meaning of the piece is subjective. Neilson’s Orange Tree, to me, does represent the notion of silence (or rather, the notion of being silent in order to be receptive to and understand knowledge and truth of others), but I feel it might run deeper than this.

Neilson’s writes of an exchange between an adult and a child, which is poignant to the interpretation as Neilson’s adult represents, I believe, the Ego which one develops through age. Therefore, as the child has not developed said concept, she is able to see the light, feel the step, and hear the call of the Orange Tree.

Even though humans are as naturally occurring as nature itself, we surround ourselves with useless noise (most of which is coming from our own tongues) to the point where we forget and omit this heightened notion of knowledge and truth found in nature from ourselves.
To give a similar example, the old saying of “stop and smell the roses” shares a similar quality. However, in Neilson’s case, the saying should be altered to “stop and be the rose” – stop, and be.

 

 

(I do not claim to own the rights to the image used here. All rights are reserved to the image’s rightful owner)