Poem
- Main idea of poem: appreciation of nature
- Kilmer is sharing his awe of nature and his respect for God.
- Many people criticize his work for being too simple and lacking substance, but others enjoy this refreshing simplicity.
- Poet Rachel Hadas described the poem as "rather slight, [but] free of irony and self-consciousness."
- nursery rhyme-like structure gives it "an unusual, haunting poignancy".
- Other critics think that his poems are too simple and overly sentimental, and that his style was archaic.
- many parodies of Trees
- Other poets and critics say the poem's continued popularity is due to its simplicity and charm
"Joyce Kilmer." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Web. 19 May 2014.
Website
"Joyce Kilmer." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 May 2014. Web. 17 May 2014.
Website
"Trees and Other Poems." Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg. Web. 18 May 2014.
Website
Joyce Kilmer
By Kylie Cordova
Trees
By Joyce Kilmer
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.
About the Poem
- Lyric poem
- Rhyme scheme: rhyming couplets- aa bb cc
- Rhythm: 12 lines of iambic tetrameter
- Poetic devices:
- personification of trees- tree is female, lifts arms to pray (line 6), has a mouth (line 3) & hair (line 8)
Biography
- born Alfred Joyce Kilmer in New Brunswick, New Jersey in 1886
- Graduated from Rutgers College and Colombia University
- Literary editor for The Churchman and later the New York Times
- Married poet Aline Murray and had 5 children
- Voluntarily enlisted in the US army for WWI in 1917 at age 30
- wanted most dangerous position possible
- Early poems are mostly about religion & nature, later about war
- Published Trees and Other Poems in 1914, Trees is the only poem that remained somewhat popular
- The Rouge Bouquet- used in soldier memorial services
- Died in 1918 after being shot by a sniper in France
- 1938- Federal government named part of a forest in North Carolina after him