Trees, by Joyce Kilmer
by: Joyce Kilmer ()
THINK that
I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts he
A tree that may in Summer wear
Upon whose
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.
&Trees& was originally
published in Trees and Other Poems. Joyce Kilmer. New
York: George H. Doran Company, 1914.
RELATED LINKS
- A Bibliography of the works of Joyce K includes a list of biographical resources.
BROWSE THE POETRY
& © 2002University of Delaware:
SARA TEASDALE LETTERS TO JOYCE AND ALINE KILMER
JavaScript is required to properly view this page.
Please enable JavaScript to navigate this site.
Special Collections Department
Sara Teasdale Letters to Joyce and Aline Kilmer
1912 - 1932
Manuscript Collection Number: 142
Accessioned: Purchase, 1986.
Extent: .2 linear ft. (58 items)
Content: Letters, poems, and photograph.
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: August 1998 by Anita A. Wellner
for reference assistance
or contact:
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Sara Teasdale
American poet Sara Teasdale was born August 8, 1884, in St. Louis, Missouri, to
merchant John Warren and Mary Elizabeth (Willard) Teasdale.
After attending Mrs.
Lockwood's School and the Mary Institute she was graduated from Hosmer Hall in 1903.
Between 1904 and 1907 Teasdale and a group of friends published a monthly literary magazine,
The Potter's Wheel, which met with success in St. Louis.
Teasdale traveled extensively and made frequent trips to Chicago, where she eventually
became part of Harriet Monroe's Poetry magazine circle and met numerous other poets.
rejecting the poet Vachel Lindsay as a suitor, she married St. Louis businessman, Ernst Filsinger,
She divorced Filsinger in 1929, against his wishes.
"Guenevere" was Teasdale's first poem to be printed, appearing in Reedy's Mirror in
Teasdale's first book, Sonnets to Duse and Other Poems, was published by Poet Lore in
the same year.
Among her other books of poetry were numerous volumes published by
Macmillan, including Rivers to the Sea (1915), Love Songs (1917), Flame and Shadow (1920),
Dark of the Moon (1926), and Strange Victory (1933).
In 1918 Teasdale was awarded the annual
prize of the Poetry Society of America and the Columbia University Poetry Society Prize
(forerunner of the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry) for Love Songs.
Popular during the early twentieth century, Teasdale's poems appeared in numerous
periodicals including Harper's, Scribner's, Century, Forum, Lippincott's, Putnam's, Bookman,
and New Republic.
On January 29, 1933, having become increasingly depressed and reclusive, Sara Teasdale
died of an overdose of sleeping pills.
She was buried in St. Louis, Missouri.
Joyce and Aline Kilmer
Teasdale addresses the first four letters in this collection to poet and critic Joyce Kilmer.
Born Alfred Joyce Kilmer on December 6, 1886, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he attended
Rutgers College () and was graduated from Columbia University with an A. B. in
In June of the same year he married Aline Murray, step-daughter of Henry Mills Alden.
Before joining the staff of the New York Times Magazine and Review of Books in 1913, he
worked on the staff of the Standard Dictionary () and as editor of the Churchman
Several collections of Joyce Kilmer's poetry were published, most notably Trees and
Other Poems (1914).
The title poem of this volume was published in the literary journal Poetry
and attained world-wide popularity.
However, Kilmer is more often remembered as a brave
World War I soldier who died on July 30, 1918, during an attack of the hills above the Ourcq in
He was honored by burial at the spot where he fell and awarded the Croix de Guerre
posthumously.
The remaining fifty-three letters were written by Teasdale to Aline Kilmer, also a poet.
Born on August 1, 1888 at Norfolk, Virginia, Aline Murray Kilmer, was educated at Rutgers
Prep and at the Vail-Deane School in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Although she published several poems prior to her marriage, her first collection of poems,
Candles That Burn, was not published until 1919.
In addition to two more volumes of poetry,
she wrote two children's books and Hunting a Hair Shirt (1923), a collection of brief personal
Aline Kilmer died on October 1, 1941, in Stillwater, New Jersey.
Locher, Frances C. (ed.)
Contemporary Authors.
Volume 104.
Gale Research
Company, 1982.
Mainiero, Lina (ed.)
American Women Writers.
Frederick Ungar
Publishing Company, 1980.
Malone, Dumas (ed.)
Dictionary of American Biography.
Scribner's Sons, 1961.
pp. 373-374.
Quartermain, Peter (ed.)
Dictionary of Literary Biography.
Volume 45: American Poets, .
First Series.
Gale Research Company, 1986.
pp. 396-405.
Sara Teasdale's fifty-six letters written to Joyce and Aline Kilmer include two autograph
poems penned by Teasdale and a photograph.
Written between 1912 and 1932, most of the
letters originated from her homes, first in St. Louis, Missouri, and later in New York City.
letters are mailed from vacation sites in Santa Barbara, C Nahant, M
Ogunquit-by-the-Sea, M Paris, France, and London, England.
Teasdale initially addressed her letters to poet Joyce Kilmer, praising his poetry, offering
a copy of her book, discussing her recent work.
She also mentioned the inclusion of a poem
dedicated to the Kilmers' daughter Rose in her recent book.
An autograph copy of this poem,
"To Rose Kilmer," is enclosed in an undated letter in this collection.
In another undated letter
(probably written in 1917) Teasdale reflected on her affection for Rose Kilmer and mourned her
tragic death.
In August 1918 Sara Teasdale wrote Aline Kilmer to offer condolences on the loss of her
husband Joyce, who was killed during battle in World War I.
Their friendship blossomed with
time and it is obvious from her letters that Teasdale greatly appreciated Aline Kilmer's writing
and depended on their friendship.
Her letters convey an affection for and trust of Kilmer, as well
as a need for her company.
They are filled with the moods and details of Teasdale's life.
Teasdale her travels, particularly her love for L her enthusiasm
for Aline Kilmer' current writing projects, such as the children's anthology and a book
on Christina R her friends Vachel Lindsey and Margaret C the
thrill of meeting Virginia W and her health.
Occasionally Teasdale mentioned her husband
Ernst Filsinger.
In 1929 she wrote to apologize to Kilmer for concealing the circumstances of
her divorce until it was final.
Teasdale's letters poignantly convey her personality and battle with depression.
letters written during the summer and fall of 1932, just prior to her death in January of 1933,
reflect her ill health and despair.
In addition to her poem, "To Rose Kilmer," the collection includes an eight-line untitled
poem written by Teasdale.
This autograph poem, dated March 23, 1931, begins: "Take heart, for
now the battle is half over."
A photograph, inscribed by Teasdale to Aline Kilmer, is included in
the collection.
The black and white image depicts Sara Teasdale as drawn in pencil by Willy
Related collections:
Folder -- Contents
Sara Teasdale letters to Joyce Kilmer,
1912 Feb 8
1912 Feb 26
1915 Aug 18
1916 Feb 11
Series II.
Sara Teasdale letters to Aline Kilmer,
1918 Aug 20
1919 Mar 1
1919 Mar 17
1919 Jun 7
1919 Nov 14
1920 Sep 29
1921 Jan 6
1921 Nov 7
1922 Nov 13
1924 Aug 12
1925 Feb 11
1925 Mar 5
1925 May 11
1925 Jun 21
1925 Aug 20
1926 Jun 17
1926 Jul 18
1926 Sep 25
1926 Dec 6
1927 May 22
1927 Jun 4
1927 Oct 2
1927 Dec 29
1928 Mar 22
1928 Dec 10
1929 Sep 18
1929 Oct 5
1929 Nov 30
Series II.
Sara Teasdale letters to Aline Kilmer (cont'd)
1930 May 19
1930 Jun 28
1930 Jul 22
1930 Sep 21
1930 Sep 24
1930 Dec 29
1931 Jan 9
1931 Apr 25
1931 Jul 7
1931 Sep 12
1931 Sep 19
Folder also includes an untitled autograph poem written by Teasdale.
eight-line poem begins: "Take heart, for now the battle is half over."
1932 Jan 19
1932 May 3
1932 May 23
1932 Jun 12
1932 Jun 23
1932 Jul 6
1932 Sep 6
1932 Nov 5
[n.y.] May 11
Written just before Joyce Kilmer left for WWI.
[n.d.] Monday
Includes an enclosed autograph poem titled "To Rose Kilmer."
Teasdale, the poem was written before 1915.
[n.d.] Sunday
This page is maintained by
Last modified:Amazon CAPTCHA
请输入您在这个图片中看到的字符：
& , , Inc. or its affiliatesJoyce Kilmer Elementary School
Vision / Mission
Joyce Kilmer Elementary will develop an educational program that supports all learners. It is the mission of Joyce Kilmer
to produce confident, reflective and proactive students who are capable of being advanced critical thinkers, expressive writers, and avid readers who value their voice in a diverse community.
& I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree& -Joyce Kilmer ()
On December 6, 1886, Alfred Joyce Kilmer was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, to Annie Kilburn (a minor composer and writer) and Dr. Frederick Barnett Kilmer (a physician and analytical chemist employed by the Johnson and Johnson Company and inventor of the company's baby powder). Joyce Kilmer was the youngest of four, and named after two priests in his hometown, Alfred R. Taylor and Elisha Brooks Joyce.
In 1895, when he was 8, he went to Rutgers College Grammar School. He was also editor in chief of the schools newspaper. Later he was granted a scholarship to attend Rutgers College (currently Rutgers University), which he did from 1904 to 1906. Due to his inability to complete the mathematics requirement, he transferred to Columbia University on May 23, 1908. A short time later, he married Aline Murray a fellow poet. They had been engaged since his second year at Rutgers. Together they had 5 children Kenton Sinclair Kilmer, Rose Kilburn Kilmer, Deborah Clanton Kilmer, Micheal Barry Kilmer, and Christopher Kilmer.
During WWI (1917) Kilmer was deployed to Europe with the 69th infrantry regiment National Guards of NewYork. At 31 years old, he was shot and killed by a sniper's bullet. Though he is dead, he is still remembered for his simple, lovely, style of poetry that captures the beauty and essence of nature.
Compiled by Leoncya Ngoma & Lorraine Amadou
Joyce Kilmer Elementary School
6700 N. Greenview
Chicago, IL 60626
Principal:
Ms. Jean Papagianis
(773) 534-2115Fax:
(773) 534-2186
All content & 2010,