The Mistake - Dannie Abse

From looking within this poem we are able to see it holds some elements of humour due to a mistake a couple have made over a tree. From within the first stanza we are able to see that we have been provided with some sort of orders due to how Abse is writing. From the tree having "no identity" we are able to see that we know little about the tree and what beauty or danger it possesses to people that see it. Although we are unaware, we see that it refers to us to "Pluck a leaf. Close your eyes. Smell its acrid odour" as though nature has a hidden talent of showing us the beauty inside it. We are also able to see that Abse personifies the tree with the phrase, "Comfort the green tree" therefore stating to us that even no this tree has no identity it is still alive and aware of the nature outside portraying a positive view.
Within the second stanza we can see that they have been able to provide the tree with a name known as "Evodia danieli" and also that its true origin is within Korea. We however see a negative side towards people due to how they wish to "boast" about what they have discovered. They have become greedy with knowledge that will allow them to look better and much more sophisticated towards their friends. From this we see that people allow knowledge to raise them up in society and do not take the benefit of nature that we are surrounded in.
From looking within stanza three we learn the people portray this tree to be rare and holy due to how they encourage people to smell its leaves. From the line "Its rare as Welsh gold" we see that Abse has used a metaphor to portray to the audience how much this couple are trying to make it seem holy when really it is not. They are trying to give it a false/new identity compared to its old one to make it seem more exciting and glamourous. We also see that it compares to curing people with the line "It'll charm away your cold" and this is supported with the line in the first stanza saying, "Oriental dispensary".The word "Oriental" refers to being within the East therefore stating the true location of the tree to being within Eastern Korea and the word "dispensary" means an office filled with medications. From this we are able to see the link between the two lines to showing that this plant is able to be used to make medicines for the ill therefore suggesting it has a great deal more importance then many other plants.
As we move onto the final stanza we learn the humourous mistake the couple have made. One of the key lines within this stanza would be "Tired of lies" for it informs the reader that the tree is tired of having this false identity to show all these people and wants its true self to be shown and appreciated. It hates the fame that it is being given by humans and therefore we are able to see that its life within this home has been fake. From the final two lines we see the tree transform into its normal form of a walnut tree and due to the line "shamelessly free of disguise" we learn that there is no shame to what we appear to look like. The tree has no shame in becoming what it truly is even though it will not get the same attention and love as it did before. Therefore we see Abse refering to a life lesson of us having to be ourselves and not want people make us to be or want us to be.
The poems that would link to The Mistake by Larkin would be Self's the Man and Essential Beauty. Self's the Man due to having self assessed itself and coming to realise what is good and bad within its life and Essential Beauty due to how it portrays the sense of being an advertisement and hiding the truth behind everyone until they have brought the product and are aware of what it really is.