In what way could 'The Trees' be considered the key to the entire collection?

 The poem has a rhyme scheme of A B B A - C D D C - E F F E with a iambic rhythm of 8 syllables to each line. Larkin often applies flexible iambic techniques in his poems as he does in ‘Cut Grass.’ The rhyming enables him to alternate between which words are stress and helps to achieve a tempo which is consistent. The very first line ‘The trees are coming into leaf’ is hard to say without pausing at the end as it seems to be a completed sentence in itself, a end stopper. It is as if Larkin has simply stopped there to observe this, take in what is happening. In this sense the poem is like that of the romantics, admiring nature in a way of William Blake, John Keats who also wrote poems of ode to nature. Larkin’s use of greeness suggests nature, spring, life, youth and naievety all which are injected into the romantics poems. They show a respect of nature, one which seems more important than there own lives, that nature is far beyond there understanding. In ‘Solar’ Larkin shows an unusual love of the sun, this is the closest of all the poems in the ‘high windows’ collection he comes to the romantic ideas, this poem does not seem envious of its immortality or continuity but simply seems to revere in its ‘petalled head of flames.’ At first it seems ‘The trees’ will follow this path, yet from early on Larkin’s jealousy shows through similarly to in ‘Cut Grass’ where he is envious of all things that do not age and loathes the very idea of death. Larkin seems to posses the ability of giving a pessimistic view on even the most beautiful summer days, in this way he is using romantic views but modernising them, almost mocking them.

  The last line of ‘The Trees’ consists of ‘afresh’ repeated three times, this gives a rhythmical quality, the word itself sounds like the wind rustling through the trees giving the poem life, while the poem ironically revolves around death. The repeated word leaves a lasting effect on the readers linking with the idea that the trees last forever despite being like us and trying to deceive our age, whereas humans eventually die. ‘Solar’ is also meant to have a lasting effect on the readers, and a sense of ongoing however in this came Larkin uses enjambment, Larkin wants this moment to last forever, reflecting on how the sun's lifespan is infinite. Larkin was a man afraid of death and in both poems there may be a logic that he wishes he could have this lasting never ending moment with peace and continuity.

  ‘Cut grass’ is once again Larkin’s idea of death so is easily comparative to ‘The Trees’. yet it also suggests the death of a social aspect of humanity "lost lanes of queen anne’s lace" showing the loss of human links to nature whereas usually this is the other way around, the loss of meadows and countryside to consumerism. The poem is strewn equally with lines of life and death, like the grass it represents. ‘The trees’ also shows this cycle of life and death, the wind of change rustling through the trees’ both are lazily written, ‘The Trees’ due to the slow change and rate that the tree grows by and ‘Cut Grass’ as it is ‘at summers pace.’ The Trees appears to have all Larkin’s key idea’s and worries of life, death, and lost youth and these could be reasons why this poem could be considered the key to the collection. Yet this point could also be argued as the poem does not include another key issues that comes through in most of Larkins poems, that of religion and life after death as in ‘High Windows’ and ‘The Building’ and in this way the poem may not be the key to the collection.