by Joyce Kilmer (1886 - 1918)
Trees
Language: English
I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed 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.
Authorship:
- by Joyce Kilmer (1886 - 1918) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Oscar Rasbach (1888 - 1975), "Trees", published 1922. [text verified 1 time]
- by Henk van der Vliet , "Trees", 1977, from 5 songs, no. 3. [text not verified]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 79