Trees Poems

Trees

by Joyce Kilmer
This stunning poem is commonly considered to be one of, if not the, best poem ever written about trees. Within a few lines, Kipling describes the undeniable beauty of trees and how, no matter how hard he (or anyone) worked, they could never write a poem as "lovely as a tree." The poem inspires readers to admire the natural world and take note of everything it has to offer.

I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

Tree At My Window

by Robert Frost

‘Tree At My Window’ by Robert Frost celebrates the speaker’s love for nature. He focuses in on one specific tree outside his window that’s meant a lot to him.

Frost's sometimes-overlooked poem 'Tree At My Window' is a heart-felt depiction of the place that a single tree can hold in someone's heart. The speaker cares deeply for this specific tree because of the long-lasting role its hard in his life. No matter what, the tree has always been there. The speaker also knows that even if the future is filled with unhappiness the tree will still be there.

Tree at my window, window tree,

My sash is lowered when night comes on;

But let there never be curtain drawn

Between you and me.

Loveliest of Trees

by A. E. Housman

‘Loveliest of Trees’ by A.E. Housman is a joyful nature poem in which the speaker describes how powerful the image of cherry blossom trees is in his life. He takes a great deal of pleasure from looking at them.

This love piece that is one of Housman's better-known poems. It describes a cherry tree that comes into bloom every year and that reminds the speaker that his time on earth is short. The tree symbolizes the importance of making the most of one's time.

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

Birches

by Robert Frost

‘Birches’ is one of the most famous, admired, and thoughtful Robert Frost poems. The poem profoundly describes something simple, an ordinary incident, in elevated terms.

'Birches' is a very well-known Frost poem that's one of the best tree poems ever written. It's 59 lines long and explores one of Frost's favorite topics - the natural landscape. He describes the way that the birch trees move in the landscape and what they remind him of through a series of metaphors and similes.

When I see birches bend to left and right

Across the lines of straighter darker trees,

I like to think some boy's been swinging them.

But swinging doesn't bend them down to stay

An Apple Gathering

by Christina Rossetti

‘An Apple Gathering’ is a first-person account of a woman who had a relationship before marriage and suffered the societal consquences.

Rossetti's 'An Apple Gathering' is a deeply meaningful poem that uses trees as its primary image. The central character picks the apples off her metaphorical tree, changing her life forever. Readers must interpret Rossetti's use of symbolism in this poem and how the tree and its apples relate to purity and perceptions of a woman's role in society in the 19th century.

I plucked pink blossoms from mine apple-tree

And wore them all that evening in my hair:

Then in due season when I went to see

I found no apples there.

The Way Through the Woods

by Rudyard Kipling
This two-stanza poem by Rudyard Kipling is a fantastic tree poem. The poet focuses on a specific plot of land and how time has changed it. Trees overgrown exponentially in the area and covered up what used to be a road. Nature reclaimed this plot of land.

They shut the road through the woods

Seventy years ago.

Weather and rain have undone it again,

And now you would never know

Aspens

by Edward Thomas
Edward Thomas' 'Aspens' is one of the best-known tree poems of all time. It speaks about nature, grief, and memory. The speaker describes the sound that aspen trees make as they talk amongst themselves, debating life's great choices.

All day and night, save winter, every weather,

Above the inn, the smithy, and the shop,

The aspens at the cross-roads talk together

Of rain, until their last leaves fall from the top.

The Trees

by Philip Larkin

‘The Trees’ by Philip Larkin is a commentary on life. Specifically, the examination of nature’s details. It highlights a number of unknowns that mirror the uncertainties in life.

Larking's beautiful 'The Trees' is a tree poem that comments on the nature of life. It examines the natural world's details and alludes to the many uncertainties that fill one's life. The poet digs deep into universal issues, all while speaking about the life of trees.

The trees are coming into leaf

Like something almost being said;

The recent buds relax and spread,

Their greenness is a kind of grief.

The Almond Trees

by Derek Walcott

‘The Almond Trees’ By Derek Walcott is a confessional poem about identity, history, and cultural identity.

'The Almond Trees' lives up to its name, having the almond tree be a large part of the story. The tree is not only described multiple times throughout the poem, but it mentions the tree's important part of the story as an observer and fellow survivor. In addition, the tree is shown as a constant throughout history, watching as a culture is abused and grieving with compassion.

There's nothing here

this early;

cold sand

cold churning ocean, the Atlantic,

no visible history,

Winter Trees

by William Carlos Williams
'Winter Trees' by William Carlos Williams uses personification to speak on deciduous "sleeping" trees. The poet uses a few lines to describe the scene as a whole, employing his characteristic to-the-point style. He ends the poem by personifying the trees and referring to them as "wise trees" that "stand sleeping in the cold."

Thus having prepared their buds

against a sure winter

the wise trees

stand sleeping in the cold.

This Lime-Tree Bower My Prison

by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Coleridge's classic tree poem 'This Lime-tree Bower my Prison' is a powerful poem about isolation, friendship, nature, and immobility. It was written after Coleridge suffered an injury and was forced to remain immobile underneath a lime tree while his friends were free to explore the countryside.

Well, they are gone, and here must I remain,

This lime-tree bower my prison! I have lost

Beauties and feelings, such as would have been

Most sweet to my remembrance even when age

Explore more poems about Trees

Plant a Tree

by Lucy Larcom

‘Plant a Tree’ by Lucy Larcom is a nature and religion-themed poem that speaks about the benefits of planting trees. 

Trees are, without a doubt, the primary topic in this poem. Each stanza focuses on a different way that planting a tree can benefit the world.

Emmonsail’s Heath in Winter

by John Clare

‘Emmonsail’s Heath in Winter’ by John Clare is a beautiful nature poem that describes a specific area in Northamptonshire in winter. The poem focuses on plants and birds. 

While trees aren't the most important image in this poem, they do makeup part of Clare's larger vision of the heath in winter. He mentions ash trees specifically while describing the birds that live there.

In Cold Storm Light

by Leslie Marmon Silko

‘In Cold Storm Light’ by Leslie Marmon Silko is a beautifully written nature poem that focuses on a winter day. The poem uses multiple examples of imagery to describe the scene. 

There is a powerful image of trees, and the elk-like wind moving through the trees' branches in this poem. Since the text is very short, any image that the poet used, like that of the trees, is very important for the reader's overall experience.

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!

by William Shakespeare

‘How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!’ by William Shakespeare is an excerpt from The Merchant of Venice, a famous Shakespearean play. The lines are found in Act V Scene 1 and are spoken by Lorenzo.

There are several images in this poem that revolve around nature, trees being one of them. Lorenzo notes that all living things, even rocks, and trees, can feel the musical harmony of the world.

A Murmur in the Trees— to note

by Emily Dickinson

‘A Murmur in the Trees— to note’ by Emily Dickinson is a poem about nature’s magic. It includes mysterious images of fairy men, glowing lights in the woods, and the murmuring of trees. 

A Woman’s Last Word

by Robert Browning

‘A Woman’s Last Word’ by Robert Browning is made up of a wife’s request to her husband that they stop arguing for the night and enter into a peaceful sleep. 

Buried Love

by Sara Teasdale

‘Buried Love’ by Sara Teasdale expresses a contrast of emotion within the narrator as she grieves a “Love” that was “bittersweet.”

Directive

by Robert Frost

‘Directive’ by Robert Frost is about the relationship between the past and the present. It is a very well regarded poem that has been described as “dismaying” and “gratifying.”

Discovery

by Florence Ripley Mastin

‘Discovery’ by Florence Ripley Mastin describes a walk through the woods during which a speaker experiences an important change. 

Dust of Snow

by Robert Frost

‘Dust of Snow’ by Robert Frost is a simple tale of how a speaker’s mood was changed by a snowfall. A love of nature is enough to elevate the speaker into a happier state of mind.

Envy

by Mary Lamb

‘Envy’ by Mary Lamb showcases a core belief that the existence of the title characteristic, ‘Envy’ is not only an unnecessary quality to possess, but it is actually nonsensical.

Going for Water

by Robert Frost

‘Going for Water’ by Robert Frost depicts a simple errand in joyful, uplifting language. The poem suggests that any task, no matter how annoying, can be enjoyed if one is outside. 

Good Timber

by Douglas Malloch

‘Good Timber’ by Douglas Malloch describes the way that trees of good timber and strong men are formed through hardship and struggle. 

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