Further examples of word-choice used effectively to show the idea of origin are 'safe and simple' and 'sealed in their shells', both again suggesting something being trapped or contained, possibly within the womb. For example, the word 'safe' could refer to the protected state the baby is in within the womb. Also the word 'shell', promoting an image of protection. The use of the sibilant s puts emphasis on these descriptions and hence more emphasis on the idea of the stage in creation before birth.
This idea is again used in the second stanza in the line 'in this brown husk, a dale of hawthorn dreams'; the word 'husk', meaning a shell, having connotations of an outer covering concealing something within. This line is also an one of many examples use of the use of the structural technique of antithesis within the poem as the word 'husk' in the first part of the line suggests something of little worth or importance. Yet it is followed in the same line by the words 'dale' and 'dreams' both suggesting something vast and of importance, something special, which is a contradiction to the earlier idea of worthlessness.
This contrast between something of importance and something of no worth is present throughout the poem and, I feel, stresses the idea of potential within living things whether it be a flower, a tree or a person. In the first stanza the lines,
'Faded as crumbled stone or shifting sand,
Forlorn as ashes, shrivelled, scentless, dry',
suggest something dull and insignificant. The repetition of the sibilant s emphasises this, as do the words 'faded' and 'forlorn', leaving the reader with the image of something, dull, colourless, mundane, unimportant and generally lifeless. Yet in the following line the writer uses the words 'gardens' and 'meadows' which give a completely contrasting view of something which is infact beautiful and interesting. Having the words 'garden' and 'scentless', both referring to the same thing, is a complete contradiction as when we think of a garden or a meadow we imagine them to be pretty and full of wonderful and fragrant smells and not to be at all lifeless or even 'scentless'. This is used to show the writers idea that everything, no matter how big or small comes from this same lifeless beginning and has the potential to be more.
'A cedar in this cell is thrust', is also contradictory as a 'cell' suggests a small and confined space as I mentioned earlier. This makes it hard to imagine a large and overpowering tree like a cedar being 'thrust' from something so small and insignificant. The fact that there is repetition of the c in the words 'cell' and 'cedar' puts emphasis on them and their obvious contrast and difference, not only in size but in significance. This is further exemplification of the idea of greatness coming from small humble beginnings.
The last line of the poem, 'and in my hand a forest lies asleep', really brings together the whole idea behind the poem, showing contrast between the vastness of a forest, something great and on a large scale, and that of its humble beginnings which are so small they can be held in the palm of a hand, an area of little importance in comparison. There is the idea that it is actually a baby that is asleep and the word 'forest' is used again to emphasise that there is potential to be great in even the smallest of living things.
In conclusion I feel that through word-choice, imagery and structural techniques such as antithesis the poet expresses her view that everything in nature comes from the same enclosed and protected beginning, whether it be within the womb or within a shell, and that despite this the potential is there to become something special.
