Asked by jk

Read this phrase from Allen Ginsberg’s "A Supermarket in California."

The trees add shade to shade.

What is the meaning of this phrase?
The narrator is contrasting the images of the market to nature.
The narrator is praising the loveliness of his cottage yard.
The narrator is remarking that trees make the night darker.
The narrator is wondering how he will find his way home.

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
The narrator is remarking that trees make the night darker.

Explanation: the line is a poetic way of saying the trees deepen or layer the darkness ("shade to shade"), emphasizing the nighttime/shadowed setting (and contributing to the poem’s contrast between natural shadow and the harsh artificial light of the supermarket).