No+Ordinary+Sun

The poem is about the pollution and the death of nature caused by man, and atomic warfare. The destruction of nature symbolised by the tree in the poem are really emphasized through; the language of prayer in the first stanza, polite interaction between superior and inferior in the second stanza, and language of chivalry in the thrid and fourth stanza. Those are just some of the techniques I picked out from the poem that just emphasizes the feeling of destruction of nature. -Theon

The last three lines of the first two stanzas show how truly destructive and powerful this weapon is... "let your arms lack toughnesss... this is no mere axe...", there is no point in resistance. This is reinforced by the first line of the 2nd stanza "your sap shall not rise again", Sap is a metaphor for life... the sap is the blood of the tree, the energy and represents life, "nor rise again" show's us the desolation that this has caused.- James

this poem is about how nuclear weapons are affecting us and the environment around us, the title emphasizes the vast power of the weapon by comparing it to the sun but then calls is "no ordinary" meaning that while the sun gives us warmth and life this weapon is in no way similar to that, but in contrast causes destruction and death. The second stanza emphasizes how the aftermath of the weapon will cause the desolation of nature and that they are of no more. "your sap shall not rise again" the whole of second stanza focus on this point and gives the poem a stronger message of how much destruction this can cause. - Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaviddd ... (\_/) . ..(-_-) <=( 0 )=> .. (").|.(")

Just adding to what Theon, James and David have said....In the first stanza it shows how strong the nuclear weapon is, Hone is telling the trees, symbolising nature, not to even bother trying to stand up against the nuclear weapon because it isn't a 'mere axe, nor fire' which usually hurt nature, but something much more powerful and unordinary. In the last stanza there is feeling of emptiness created representing what the world would look and by like because of what us humans are doing, the world will be empty. Like we are pretty much destroyed nature and ourselves. Also as the weapon is referred to as the 'no ordinary sun', the line 'your sap shall not rise again to the moon's pull' - does the moon represent anyting? -Izzy

The third stanza clearly shows the unnaturalness of the nuclear bomb represented by several solar metaphors. In this stanza it is the first time that the poet refers to it as a sun. By using the adjective 'monstrous' to describe the sun he sets the nuclear weapon in contrast to the tree that symbolizes life and nature. It also shows how the nature and human life cannot protect itself against the nuclear weapon because the 'former shagginess...nor shield/nor cool the ardour of unheeding/lovers from the monstrous sun.'The tree is helpless against the heat of the nuclear weapon which is emphasized by the repeated negation ('nor...nor').Could the unheeding lovers represent the humans that support nuclear weapons? -Lorenz

The final stanza sounds quite like a bible verse, 'O tree...'. The final stanza summarises the poem as what is essentially the apocalypse. The plains are turned white, the sea floor is drab, and the entire world barren. The final line 'Your end at last is written', is extremely haunting, as it summerises that this is it. There is no redemption, nothing after, this is the end of the world. This could link in quite nicely with the Biblical feel with the poem, creating allusion to 'Revelations' which is the apocalyptic end of the Bible. It's probably worth looking into whether Hone Tuwhare was Christian or not to verify the accuracy of this. - Jacob

The tree described in the majority of the poem, is essentially a representation of nature and the environment as it symbolizes purity and acts as shelter for inhabitants of the area (I.e. birds and people). Therefore by describing the final fate of the tree, the poem describes a devastating end of a large area since mountains, plains and seas are also described to be affected. The unordinary sun represents the nuclear explosion which obviously causes the large-scale disaster. The tree had been used as protection against the sun, hence the sun was described as 'monstrous' since the strength of its emitted light had troubled the inhabitants.The repetition of the line "Tree let your (naked) arms fall", highlights and describes hopelessness as the tree is to relinquish its duty. This is because this unordinary sun's (bomb's) impact is a force that the tree has never encountered (thus 'no ordinary'), and also so unnatural that it can almost be seen as 'magical' (meaning immensely powerful) phenomena. The tree has also encountered attempts at its own destruction, "axe to blunt, nor fire to smother". The fact that it seemed fairly impervious( because of the word 'mere') to these threats, but is completely helpless when encountering this unordinary sun supports this idea. - Winstan

The poem is representative of Hone Tuwhare's feelings towards all things nuclear, in particular the weapons testing in the Pacific (we can tell its the Pacific because he talks about the monsoons and the trade winds). The 'unordinary sun' describes the nuclear explosion, and the lines such as 'the fading green of your magic emanations shall not make pure again these polluted skies' describe the damage caused. The tree symbolises both nature and mankind as a whole. When the tree is described as stripped of its leaves, this, as well as representing the damage to the environment that nuclear weapons cause, also represents how when men kill each other (leaves representing individual people) it damages mankind (the tree) as whole. The line 'let your arms lack toughness and resilience for this is no mere axe to blunt nor fire to smother' also creates an idea of war between men (the axe - a weapon, and fire - a common word used when describing battle). Tuwhare describes the weapons (axes and fire) in a dismissive way which reinforces how he views nuclear weapons to be a weapon that causes destruction incomparable to any other weapon. - Mike

The poem takes the structure of a prayer and in this sense shows what significance Hone Tuwhare holds for nature as prayers are usually made in praise of something. The feelings Hone Tuwhare has towards pollution and death of nature due to nuclear actions. Like a prayer Hone Tuwhare is now at a state where he is asking for help but it is evident in Stanza's one and two "let you arms lack toughness and resilience for this is no mrere axe..." and "Your sap shall not rise again to the moon's pull." that there is no hope for a better alternative than that of what has already been done. Hone Tuwhare's constant use of personification throughout the poem also creates close links to he idea life and struggle from a Maori perspective looking back on Maori history and ancestry, something Tuwhare distinctly writes from. A tree being a strong symbol in Maori culture therefore could also create a different alternative view to the poem with the Tree representing Maori people and the effect the nuclear weapon has on the tree representing the effect of Westernisation on Maori in historic years. - Lu'isa

The poem is about the character, most likely Hone Tuwhare, cutting down a tree. He seems to be praying to the Maori gods, this is normal in Maori culture as whenever a part of nature is destroyed or a sacred animal is killed there is a prayer and hope for acceptance from the gods. Another reason for this is the use of personification used to describe the tree, 'tree let your __arms__ fall, tree let your __naked__ arms fall'. In Stanza one, Hone is telling the tree that there is no other hope but this.' Let your arms lack toughness and resilience for this is no mere axe'. Hone also refers to pollution in the poem, as one of the reasons why the tree cant go living. 'these __polluted__ skies'. 'wreathed with the __delightful flight__, lovers from the __monstrous sun__, for this is __no ordinary sun__', These quotes from the poem are referring to an atomic or nuclear bomb in the area is maybe going to go off and destroy all the nature in the environment. In Maori culture the humans feel what the environment around them feels and Hone thought that killing the tree before the explosion would be a much wiser sacrifice as he says 'your __end at last is written__'. - Sahib..

What I found most interesting about this poem was Tuwhare's view on man. He encapsulates the destructive nature of man-'for this is no mere axe too blunt nor fire to smother'. He uses diction and emotive words like polluted and monstrous, in reference to humans. I gain the feeling that he thinks there is no hope left at all-we have destroyed all beauty in nature. The structure of the poem is written as a prayer-the idea of a prayer again emphasizes the need for change as when we pray are usually praying for help or questioning why something has happened. I think Hone Tuwhare is, almost nostalgically, questioning how we got where we are. He is a traditional Maori and so can reminisce on when our land was plentiful-'green of your magic'-but finds it hard to understand how we got to these 'polluted skies'. As the poem furthers he becomes more and more cynical with the final line '..your end at last is written...' emphasizing his view that it is too late to make a change,-Chelsea.