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" is a lyric poem by American poet Joyce Kilmer. Written in February 1913, it was first published in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse that August and included in Kilmer's 1914 collection Trees and Other Poems. The poem, in twelve lines of rhyming couplets of iambic tetrameter verse, describes what Kilmer perceives as the inability of art created by humankind to replicate the beauty achieved by nature.
Alfred Joyce Kilmer (1886 – 1918) is best known for his poem, "Trees," but he actually produced quite a large volume of work. Had his life not ended so tragically early, many believe he would have developed into one of America's great poets. Joyce married young and fathered five children even as he was establishing himself as a teacher, writer, and lecturer. While coping with the illness of one of their children, Joyce and his wife converted from the Episcopal faith to Catholocism and he ultimately became the leading Catholic poet of his time. When World War I broke out, Joyce enlisted and had contracted to write a book about his war experiences. Unfortunately, he was killed on a French battlefield before he ever even began the book; he was only 31 when he died. Interesting side note: Joyce's father worked for Johnson & Johnson and is credited with inventing that company's famous baby powder.
나무
나는 보지 못할 것이다
나무처럼 아름다운 시를.
달콤한 젖이 흘러나오는 대지의 품에
배고픈 입을 대고 있는 나무.
하루 종일 신을 응시하고는
기도하기 위해 잎이 무성한 팔을 들어 올리는 나무.
여름에는 모자가 필요한지
붉은가슴울새의 둥지를 머리에 장식한 나무.
그 가슴에는 눈이 내려 쌓이고,
비와도 사이좋게 살고 있는 나무.
시는 나 같은 바보가 짓지만,
나무는 오직 신만이 만들 수 있다.
조이스 킬머, (Alfred) Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)
미국 시인. 러트거 대학과 콜럼비아 대학에서 공부했다. 1911년에 아일랜드 시인들의 영향을 받은 첫 시집 Summer of Love을 내었고, 카톨릭으로 개종한 다음에는 형이상학파 시인들을 본받았다. 유명한 시 "나무(Trees)"는 1913년에 잡지 Poetry에 발표되었다. 소박한 철학과 감상이 결합된 이 시는 곧 널리 인기를 얻었다. 그가 남긴 중요한 작품은 Trees and Other Poems(1914), The Circus and Other Essays(1916), Main Street and Other Poems(1917), Literature in the Making(1917) 등이 있다. 1913년 뉴욕 타임즈사의 직원이 되었고, 1917년에 현대 카톨릭 시 선집인 Dreams and Images를 편집. 1차 대전 중에 전사하였고 사후 프랑스의 무공십자훈장(Croix de Guerre)를 받았다.