Trees | Joyce Kilmer, 1913 / The Spaniels, 1959

anon

.

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.
Trees | Joyce Kilmer
first appeared in Poetry magazine (August 1913)

Joyce Kilmer, 1886-1918