The 12-line poem, “Trees,” by Joyce Kilmer (1886–1918) was written in 1913 and immediately met with acclaim. It’s become a classic due to its simple focus on an aspect of nature often taken for granted:
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.
In his book “American Canopy: Trees, Forests, and the Making of a Nation,” Eric Rutkow hopes readers will recognize the magnitude and majesty of trees in America. He takes readers on a historical walk in the woods, starting with the discovery of this country through the American Revolution, and ending with “The Environmental Era,” as he titled his last chapter.
Paths lined by clover and ferns lead through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, which is part of the Redwood National and State Parks cluster in Northern California. Patricia Elaine Thomas/Dreamstime/TNS
