Meaning & Analysis
Tall, exposed cedar trees are more susceptible to being shaken or felled by strong winds, while small, low-lying shrubs are sheltered and remain largely undisturbed by the same storms.
Insights
The Vulnerability of Power
The powerful, prominent, and ambitious are more exposed to the dangers of political turmoil, criticism, and sudden downfall. Their high status makes them a target, whereas the humble and obscure often escape such perils.
Humility as a Virtue
The proverb serves as a moral warning against pride and over-reaching ambition. It champions the virtue of humility, suggesting that a modest and unassuming life offers greater stability and peace than a life of high-stakes prominence.
Anonymity and Security
Those in positions of authority or fame are subject to constant scrutiny and judgment. Their failures are public and catastrophic, while the missteps of ordinary people go largely unnoticed, allowing them to endure.
Political Commentary
The proverb reflects the political anxieties of the late 16th and 17th centuries, a period of social upheaval where the mighty could fall swiftly. The 1644 quotation, 'now the Axe is laid to the rootes of Shrubs, whereas heretofore tall Cedars bare off the Stroake', fascinatingly inverts the proverb, suggesting a time when even the humble were no longer safe, perhaps alluding to the widespread impact of the English Civil War.
Classical and Biblical Resonance
The cedar tree, especially the 'Cedars of Lebanon', is a potent biblical symbol of strength, pride, and royalty. Its downfall, therefore, carries a moral weight, evoking themes from classical tragedy and scripture where hubris precedes a great fall, a lesson echoed in Horace's Odes which note that the tallest pines are most buffeted by winds.
Psychology of Status
The proverb explores the psychological trade-off between ambition and security. It suggests that the visibility and pressure associated with high status ('high cedars') create inherent fragility, while the anonymity of a lower station ('low shrubs') provides a form of protective camouflage against life's tempests.
Rhetorical Devices
Antithesis
The proverb is built on the stark contrast between 'high cedars' and 'low shrubs', and their opposite fates ('fall' vs. 'remain'). This powerful antithesis makes the moral lesson clear and memorable.
Symbolism
The 'cedar' symbolizes power, pride, and status, while the 'shrub' represents humility and the common person. The 'wind' or 'storm' (implied) acts as a symbol for adversity, fate, or social upheaval.
Natural Imagery
The physical image of a great tree crashing to the ground while small bushes are unharmed is a simple, vivid, and universally understood illustration of the proverb's abstract social or moral meaning.
Transcription
Quotations
But the shrub is safe when the Cedar shaketh.
Cedars are shaken, when shrubs do feel no bruize.
Bid him trust his misery in our hands, Great trees I see do fall, when the shrub stands.
The low shrubs are the least annoyed by the winds.
The tall Cedars feele the fury of tempests; which blow ouer the humble shrubs in the low vallies.
The Shrub Securely grows. The tallest tree stands Most in the wind.
For high cedars are shaken with the wind, when low shrubs are scarcely moued, and men in high places had need to looke to their sure footing.
For now the Axe is laid to the rootes of Shrubs, whereas heretofore tall Cedars bare off the Stroake.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.