A Tree

Trees
by Alfred Joyce Kilmer

I
think
that I shall
never see a poem
lovely as a tree. A tree
whose hungry mouth is pressed
against the world sweet flowing breast.
A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts it's
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.

Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was a soldier, lecturer, journalist and of course, a poet.

The poem "Trees" was dedicated to Mrs. Henry Mills Alden,^[35] (Ada Foster Murray Alden), his wife's mother and a poet in her own right.

According to Kilmer's son, Kenton, the poem—which was not inspired by any specific tree but about trees in general—was written "...in an upstairs bedroom... which served as Mother's and Dad's bedroom and also as Dad's office.... The window looked out down a hill, on our well-wooded lawn - trees of many kinds, from mature trees to thin saplings: oaks, maples, black and white birches, and I do not know what else."^[39] However, a 1915 interview with Kilmer "pointed out that while Kilmer might be widely known for his affection for trees, his affection was certainly not sentimental - the most distinguished feature of Kilmer's property was a colossal woodpile outside his home. The house stood in the middle of a forest and what lawn it possessed was obtained only after Kilmer had spent months of weekend toil in chopping down trees, pulling up stumps, and splitting logs. Kilmer's neighbors had difficulty in believing that a man who could do that could also be a poet."^[40]

Many locations across the United States maintain legends that certain trees in their localities inspired Kilmer to write the poem. Most noted among them is the tradition in Kilmer's birthplace, New Brunswick, New Jersey, which states that Kilmer wrote the poem "Trees" after a large white oak (Quercus alba) tree that was located on the outskirts of town on the campus of Cook College (now known as the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences), at Rutgers University.^[41] This tree, estimated to be over three hundred years old, was so weakened by age and disease that it had to be removed in 1963.^[42] Currently, saplings from acorns of the historic tree are being grown at the site, throughout the Middlesex County area, and in major arboretums around the United States. The remains of the original Kilmer Oak are currently kept in storage at Rutgers University.^[43][44]

Guy Davenport suggests quite a different inspiration. "Trees were favorite symbols for Yeats, Frost, and even the young Pound. [ . . . ] But Kilmer had been reading about trees in another context [,] the movement to stop child labor and set up nursery schools in slums. [ . . . ] Margaret McMillan . . . had the happy idea that a breath of fresh air and an intimate acquaintance with grass and trees were worth all the pencils and desks in the whole school system. [ . . . ] The English word for gymnasium equipment is 'apparatus.' And in her book Labour and Childhood (1907) you will find this sentence: 'Apparatus can be made by fools, but only God can make a tree.'"

Source:
-wikied it!