Critically discuss the central idea of the poem, Our Causarina Tree in 500 words or more.

The first
stanza describes the tree as a "giant," powerful enough to resist the creeping vine
wrapped around it like a python. The tree has scars but still lives and reaches up to the sky
(stars). The tree is old but full of life; in itself and as represented by the birds and bees
around it. In this sense, the tree symbolizes life but more particularly, the tree is afor
memory. This becomes more clear in the subsequent stanzas. 

In the second
stanza, the speaker notes more signs of animal life (baboons and birds - kokilas) and the
water-lilies. Although the tree is teeming with life, the speaker adds that it is the memory
associated with the tree that makes it so important to her. In the third stanza: 

Beneath it we have played; though many years roll, 

O sweet companions, loved with love intense, 

For your sakes shall
the tree be ever dear. 

The tree is literally the place
where the speaker and her companions played, so it is an actual, physical place of memory in
addition to being a metaphor that symbolizes memory. Just as a family tree shows how family
members are connected, the speaker sees this tree similarly in that memories shared with others
are connected. This goes for happy memories as well as the sad ones ("dirge-like
murmur" suggests memories of loved ones lost). There is a suggestedto the Biblical
"tree of life," and the garden of Eden. This gives the place/metaphor a sense of
paradise; in memory, it is untouchable, even potentially eternal. 

Note that
it is "our" (not "my") casuarina tree. The tree is a symbol connecting many
lives, many memories. In closing, the speaker hopes that when she is gone, there will be more
"deathless trees" in addition to this particular tree. Here, again, this can be a
literal tree (capable of symbolizing and providing an actual, physical space for memories) or
the tree as metaphor for memory. Paralleling the tree metaphor of memory is the poem itself. The
poem itself is the speaker's humble attempt to do what the tree has done for her: serve to
remember her life and those who she called companions. The poet invokes Wordsworth's
"Yew-trees" with the "Borrowdale" reference; this underscores the idea of a
poem as a written memory.