400;"> The elm trees are described as “winter-weary,” that means they are tired after facing the long, cold season. Yet they stand firm under the snow. Their patience shows how nature quietly tolerates pain and hardship. The poet uses them to express human struggle and strength.

Image Of Sorrow And Mourning: The poet compares the bending branches to “grief-stricken mourners.” This image makes the trees look like people who are bowing in sadness. The elm trees share the sorrow of the world. Their bending shape becomes a picture of silent grief and respect for life and death.

Connection With Death And Peace: The elm trees are covered with a “white funeral cloth.” This image turns them into part of a peaceful burial scene. The snow gives them rest after the pain of winter. Through them, the poet shows that death in nature is not painful but calm and gentle, like sleep.

Reflection Of Nature’s Prayer: In the last stanza, the poet sees the trees bending “like white-robed Moslems salaaming at evening prayer.” The elm trees now become symbols of faith and devotion. Their movement in the wind looks like an act of prayer. It shows that nature itself worships in silence and peace.

The elm trees stand for weariness, patience, sorrow, and faith. They link human emotion with nature’s calm strength. Gabriel Okara shows through them that even in silence and pain, nature prays, endures, and remains full of quiet beauty.