A single pine tree lonely,

on a northern mountain height,
sleeps in a white blanket,
draped in snow and ice.

His dreams are of a palm-tree,
who, far in eastern lands,
weeps, all alone and silent,

among the burning sands.

The beautiful lines you see above is a poem written by German poet, Heinrich Heine. For all of those who do not understand poetry or literature for the matter, the poem is not actually about “fir trees” day dreaming about a palm tree. That's usually how poetry works, nothing means what it really says because there is some deeper meaning. One meaning of the poem is the idea of being alone and dreaming of that someone who also has that same feeling of loneliness. You would think that the simple solution to this would be is for these two lonely trees to get together and be happy. The only problem is that they are in two different lands and cannot leave, well because they are trees, they're stationary in the same spot and destined to loneliness. So when reading the poem the reader naturally feels sorry for the trees, that is until you wonder “what if the pine tree is faced with another pine tree that has an equal feeling of loneliness but yet still can't have it." It can be agreed that this can be a more heart breaking story.

When one thinks further to the poem you also wonder, does the palm tree necessarily have to symbolize a person? What if the palm tree also represents something that you will never have, something that will never happen, or something you'll never be. We all have those dreams that we know deep down inside won't come true. Or those ideas like world peace or social equality is a concept similar to a fairy tale, or maybe there is a someone that you want desperately but will never have. Although, this isn’t the idea of words of encouragement, just see it as even though you can't get what you want, it's just the way of life. Like the Rolling Stones say, “you can't always get what you want," but like a tree you still stand tall.