The conquering of the tree branches and the conquering of living are connected in this poem, how so?

When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees,

I like to think some boy's been swinging them.

But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay.

Ice-storms do that. Often you must have seen them

Loaded with ice a sunny winter morning

After a rain. They click upon themselves

As the breeze rises, and turn many-colored

As the stir cracks and crazes their enamel.

Soon the sun's warmth makes them shed crystal shells

Shattering and avalanching on the snow-crust

Such heaps of broken glass to sweep away

You'd think the inner dome of heaven had fallen.

They are dragged to the withered bracken by the load,

And they seem not to break; though once they are bowed

So low for long, they never right themselves:

You may see their trunks arching in the woods

Years afterwards, trailing their leaves on the ground

Like girls on hands and knees that throw their hair

Before them over their heads to dry in the sun.play alone.The conquering of the tree branches and the conquering of living are connected in this poem, how so?
I think the majority of the answer to the question can be found in the last 6 lines or so.The birch trees which have survived loads of snow and ice from ice storms remain ';bowed/So low for long, they never right themselves.'; They continue to grow, however, ';trailing their leaves on the ground.'; The poet suggests that the birch don't just merely survive, but actually says they are like ';girls on hands and knees that throw their hair/Before them over their heads to dry in the sun play alone.'; (Is a word missing between sun and play, by the way, like ';and';?) If you think of young girls who are growing their hair out long (maybe avoiding using a blow dryer to keep it in the best condition, if you take a modern point of view), they are probably in their teens and have all of their life in front of them, and they still ';play'; at that age, as well. The simile of comparing the bent trees to girls is a nice way to say that the trees who have weathered the worst ice still are as young and strong as girls even if they don't stand straight anymore.The conquering of the tree branches and the conquering of living are connected in this poem, how so?
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