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"Trees"
by Joyce Kilmer
(1886-1918)

hear this poem

featuring voice artist  Fred Bugg
as "Jimmy Stewart" 

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 written by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

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 Many people remember the last two lines of TREES as "Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree".  That version is from the song that was so popular from the 1940s to the early 1960s that it was made a part of the music curriculum in many schools.

Paul Robeson sings "Trees"

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Alfred Joyce Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, N.J. in 1886.
He was only 32 years old when he was killed in action in France in World War I.

Please visit Rising Dove.com to see his picture, his family tree
and much more.