Trees - Joyce Kilmer (Illuminations)

 Trees - Joyce Kilmer

Joyce Kilmer:

Alfred Joyce Kilmer was an American writer and poet, a journalist, literary critic, lecturer, and editor. His works celebrated the common beauty of the natural world as well as his Roman Catholic religious faith. He participated in World War I and was killed by being shot at the Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31

The poem "Trees" was first published in 1913 in an early issue of Poetry magazine, and was subsequently included in Joyce Kilmer's 1914 collection Trees and Other Poems. The poem has been made into a musical piece by Oscar Rasbach.

Trees

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" was published in an era of vast, wide-sweeping societal changes -An era of mass production and industrialization. "Trees" represents a perhaps naive longing for a return to a natural, Eden-like paradise. The poem exhibits traits of Romantic and Victorian ages – It is Romantic in the sense that it is a mix of nature poetry and religious poetry; The poet himself has talked of the  Victorian poet, Coventry Patmore as a major influence.



Form:

Couplet – A couplet is a literary device featuring two consecutive lines of poetry that typically rhyme and have the same meter.

Simple and lucid language

Rhyming words at the end of each couplet – aa bb cc dd ee aa

 Poet Persona:

The speaker in "Trees" is a poet and a religious believer. - uses the first person pronoun.

Joyce Kilmer himself, of course, was a poet, and the poem is typical of his style. He was also a Catholic, and the poem is often interpreted as an expression of his own view of the world.

Theme - Human Art vs. Divine Creation:

• Contrast between the majesty of nature and the human art 
• a hymn of praise to God’s creation, celebrating both the wonder of the natural world and its maker.

The tree’s loveliness thus comes in part from its interconnectedness with other parts of nature. The tree has a harmonious relationship with the mother earth, God and the other living beings (robins). In other words, the tree is part of a perfectly balanced natural ecosystem. And this awe-inspiring majesty, the poem insists, could only be the work of God. The tree thus stands in testament to God’s power. 

The role of art/ poem - This poem itself provides a way for other people to reflect on the majesty of God’s creation, drawing the reader’s attention to the way trees express and embody God’s will. The poet also talks about the insufficiency of humans in creating such a perfect creation.

Literary Devices Used:

• Alliteration, Assonance  & Consonance - 
• Enjambment - It is defined as a thought or clause that does not come to an end at a line break; instead, it moves over the next line.
• Juxtaposition – between poetry and trees; between human art and divine creation
• Personification - the speaker personifies the tree as offering up its “arms” (branches) towards heaven in prayer. “A tree whose hungry mouth is prest”; “And lifts her leafy arms to pray” and “A nest of robins in her hair” which shows as if the trees are humans that can perform certain actions.
• Imagery - Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “A tree whose hungry mouth is prest”; “A nest of robins in her hair” and “And lifts her leafy arms to pray.”
• Simile: Simile is used to compare an object or person with something else to make meanings clear to the readers. For example, “A poem lovely as a tree”. The poet compares his composition to a tree. In the line “Poems are made by fools like me” the poet compares himself with a fool.
• Anaphora - Anaphora is the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of multiple lines, usually in succession

To listen to the song "Trees", click on the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJTDS1H7AEA

For a lecture on the poem click on the link https://youtu.be/NrRIAjE5DsE

Prepared by,

Betty Elsa Jacob

Assistant Professor

Dept. of English,

CMS College, Kottayam