“Trees” by Joyce Kilmer

One of my greatest joys is walking in forests and enjoying the quiet presence of trees. Some of my earliest memories are about nature walks in old chestnut and beech forests near my old home town of Bjelovar. It was then and there that I developed the habit of weekly – sometimes daily – walks in parks and woodlands.

On a related subject, in this post I am going to share with you a wonderfully simple poem by Joyce Kilmer. Entitled “Trees”, the poet uses it to express the majestic nature of these living beings, superior even to artistic creation and intelligence of man. It is found in Trees and Other Poems, a collection of Kilmer’s poems published in 1914.

To find out more about this poet, you can visit the page on the Poetry Foundation website dedicated to him.

Below the poem, you will a couple of photos that I took in the Lipovica Forest (Lipovička šuma) near Belgrade in July 2024.

---

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

---

---

---

---