Lyric Poem · Nature

Trees

by Joyce Kilmer · 1913

Reading room

1I THINK that I shall never see

2A poem lovely as a tree.

3A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

4Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

5A tree that looks at God all day,

6And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

7A tree that may in Summer wear

8A nest of robins in her hair;

9Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

10Who intimately lives with rain.

11Poems are made by fools like me,

12But only God can make a tree.

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“Trees” by Joyce Kilmer — quilloak.com/poems/trees

Quick facts

Poem: Trees
Poet: Joyce Kilmer
Published: 1913
Length: 12 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Rhyming Poems, Short Poems
Themes: Nature, Short

Craft notes

How this poem works

Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 12 lines · 6 couplets
End rhyme: AA in 67% of the stanzas — a rhyming couplet. The remaining stanzas vary, often through slant rhyme.
Line length: Mostly 8-syllable lines (tetrameter length).

The poem’s silhouette — approximate syllables per line, measured from the text above. Even bars mean a measured line; ragged bars mean the poem sets its own widths.

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Text, source & rights

A traceable edition

Full-text display is based on the cited edition and a United States term-expiry review.

Author record: Joyce Kilmer1886–1918
Source record: WikisourceTrees by joyce-kilmer, Wikisource transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: 1913
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 42e098826b67f1bd…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Rhyming Poems Short Poems Nature Short

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