Poems About Trees

by Harry Thomas (Editor)

A unique anthology of poems—from around the world and through the ages—that celebrate trees. AN EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY POCKET POET.
 
For thousands of years humans have variously worshipped trees, made use of them, admired them, and destroyed them—and poets have long chronicled the relationship. Poets from Homer and Virgil to Wordsworth, Whitman, and Thoreau, from Su Tung P'o and Basho to Czeslaw Milosz and W. S. Merwin have celebrated sacred groves, wild woodlands, and bountiful orchards, and the results include some of our most beloved poems.
Whether showing their subjects being planted or felled, cherished or lamented, towering in forests or flowering in backyards, the poems collected here pay lyrical tribute to these majestic beings with whom we share the earth.
 


• “Birches" by Robert Frost
• “The Camperdown Elm” by Marianne Moore
• “Binsey Poplars” by Gerard Manley Hopkins
• “Sequoia" by Zbigniew Herbert
• “The Lemon Trees" by Eugenio Montale
• “The Apples" by Yves Bonnefoy
• “The Plum Tree" by Bertolt Brecht
• “The Almond Tree" by D.H. Lawrence
• “The Loveliest of Trees" by A.E. Housman
 
Everyman's Library pursues the highest production standards, printing on acid-free cream-colored paper, with full-cloth cases with two-color foil stamping, decorative endpapers, silk ribbon markers, European-style half-round spines, and a full-color illustrated jacket.

Genres: Poetry, Nature

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2019

Reviews

[Troy Farlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just one example of a hundred why this book of poems is fabulous:

The Black Walnut Tree by Mary Oliver

My mother and I debate:
we could sell
the black walnut tree
to the lumberman,
and pay off the mortgage.
Likely some storm anyway
will churn down its dark boughs,
smashing the house. We talk
slowly, two women trying
in a difficult time to be wise.
Roots in the cellar drains,
I say, and she replies
that the leaves are getting heavier
every year, and the fruit
harder to gather away.
But something brighter than money
moves in our blood–an edge
sharp and quick as a trowel
that wants us to dig and sow.
So we talk, but we don't do
anything. That night I dream
of my fathers out of Bohemia
filling the blue fields
of fresh and generous Ohio
with leaves and vines and orchards.
What my mother and I both know
is that we'd crawl with shame
in the emptiness we'd made
in our own and our fathers' backyard.
So the black walnut tree
swings through another year
of sun and leaping winds,
of leaves and bounding fruit,
and, month after month, the whip-
crack of the mortgage.

Five Star book - by Everyman's Library.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice collection with some lovely poems. It introduced me to some new (to me) poets whose work I will definitely pursue.

BUT. Not a very diverse cast of poets here. Lots of white men. And though you can't have a collection of tree poems without Whitman or Frost, they each have multiple poems here. Some of those spots could have been home to a tree poem by Heather Christle or Ross Gay. Ross Gay has written some AMAZING tree poems.

Again, the poems here are beautiful, but 2/3 of the way through, I was reminded why I try to keep the poets I read as diverse as possible. As a white man, I absolutely do not want to read only poems by other white men. It kind of defeats the purpose for me.

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trees are lovely and so is this collection!

[Peter · Rating 3 out of 5]

As is usual with such anthologies, some poems are fine, some terrible, some on topic, some only vaguely so.

[Sharon Ouderkirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

When we were kids, my sister took the screen out of our bedroom window (don't ask why!) and it was spring, and the plum tree in the back yard was in bloom, and the branches came in through our window. For a brief time, we had blossoms on our pillows and our sheets, and the natural scent of spring. It was magic, and we both remember and talk about it today, nearly 50 years later.
It is these kinds of memories of trees that are landmarks in our lives that inspired the bulk of the poems in this book. Since trees are a universal symbol of life and nature, I expect that most people will find poems that resonate with them. Even the titles are evocative: 'The Lemon Trees' by Eugenio MONTALE, 'The Purple Peach Tree' by Su Tung P'O, 'The Tulip Tree' by William STAFFORD, 'The Cemetery of Orange Trees in Crete, by Gerald STERN.
I was disappointed that there were not more poems about the spiritual side of trees - who can look at a willow and not feel the mystical history of willow wands? But I think even if that was not a specific theme, the spiritual beauty of trees and their importance in our daily lives came through in the poems.

[Kem White · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the 14th volume in the "Pocket Poets" series I've read. I really like them. This collection is similar to the others: some poems I like, some are OK, and some not so much. My favorite poem in this book is Ellen Bryant Voight's "Landscape, Dense with Trees" where the poet describes her childhood home and the way her father "sacrificed the yard to shade" by planting many trees. You feel the love of trees and the heat of summer vibrantly in this poem. A second favorite is Nancy Willard's "When There Were Trees" which describes a time when trees were worshipped and "I walked among trees,/the most beautiful things I had ever seen." Finally William Meredith's "Tree Marriage" is sublime as the poet suggests that humans should marry trees when they marry each other. It's just a lovely notion conveyed in a lovely poem. There weren't too many clinkers in this volume. Lee Gerlach's "Ghazal" had too much silly poet wordiness. John Clare's "To A Fallen Elm" was much too prolix and old-timey for my tastes. Most of the poems in this book are just OK but are still a pleasure to read if you love trees as I do. Recommended.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately I liked very few of the poems, despite being very passionate about the subject of trees. Those I liked made it worth it however. I feel that these books are a great introduction for those of us who haven't read much poetry and don’t know where to begin. I read a couple a day and it’s a wonderful routine. I will continue to collect and read them. Favourites: “Throwing a tree”, “The willow” and “The black walnut tree”.

[David Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this lovely book up a little over two years ago during my honey moon and have been reading it a little at a time on vacations and holidays since then. I finished it today and could see myself returning to some of these poems someday.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like these anthology poetry books because it allows me to find out what I like and don’t like and even more importantly who I like and don’t like. So three stars are for the poets I found and want to explore more of and not five stars for the poets I never want to read again.

[JV Austen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trying to learn to love poetry and I do love trees so this seemed a good idea. The collection is varied and I did really enjoy many of the poems. I will pick this up another time and try again.

[riley harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

loveliest book i’ve ever read.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I'd discover some gems or deeply moving poems that I'd never discovered or that hit all the feelings about my love for trees but it didn't work. The excerpts or the full poems didn't have the same epic-ness as The Overstory or ones that I'd stumble upon while reading a poet.

So it wasn't a favorite by any stretch. I wanted some magic and sweeping beauty that I didn't get.