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Trees: An Anthology of Writings and Paintings
*Winner of the American Translators Association Frederick Ungar Award* An elegant collection of Hermann Hesse’s essays, poems, and passages on the subject of trees and nature, accompanied by thirty-one of his watercolor illustrations.
Hermann Hesse understood trees to be symbols of transcendence and rebirth, of instinctive growth present in all natural life. This elegant collection of his essays, poems, and passages on trees, accompanied by thirty-one of his watercolor illustrations, reveals his inspired thoughts on nature, spirituality, and self-knowledge. Together, his writings and paintings mirror the seasons and landscapes as he experienced them, and help remind us that trees’ annual rings are representations of our own days’ struggle, happiness, and purpose.
In the author’s “They struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing to fulfill themselves according to their own laws . . . Whoever has learned to listen to trees no longer wants to be one. He wants to be nothing except who he is.”
31 full-color watercolors painted by Hermann Hesse
Hermann Hesse understood trees to be symbols of transcendence and rebirth, of instinctive growth present in all natural life. This elegant collection of his essays, poems, and passages on trees, accompanied by thirty-one of his watercolor illustrations, reveals his inspired thoughts on nature, spirituality, and self-knowledge. Together, his writings and paintings mirror the seasons and landscapes as he experienced them, and help remind us that trees’ annual rings are representations of our own days’ struggle, happiness, and purpose.
In the author’s “They struggle with all the force of their lives for one thing to fulfill themselves according to their own laws . . . Whoever has learned to listen to trees no longer wants to be one. He wants to be nothing except who he is.”
31 full-color watercolors painted by Hermann Hesse
136 pages, Hardcover
Published May 3, 2022
40 people are currently reading
612 people want to read
About the author
Hermann Hesse
1,801 books19.5k followersMany works, including
Siddhartha
(1922) and
Steppenwolf
(1927), of German-born Swiss writer Hermann Hesse concern the struggle of the individual to find wholeness and meaning in life; he won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1946.
Other best-known works of this poet, novelist, and painter include The Glass Bead Game , which, also known as Magister Ludi, explore a search of an individual for spirituality outside society.
In his time, Hesse was a popular and influential author in the German-speaking world; worldwide fame only came later. Young Germans desiring a different and more "natural" way of life at the time of great economic and technological progress in the country, received enthusiastically Peter Camenzind , first great novel of Hesse.
Throughout Germany, people named many schools. In 1964, people founded the Calwer Hermann-Hesse-Preis, awarded biennially, alternately to a German-language literary journal or to the translator of work of Hesse to a foreign language. The city of Karlsruhe, Germany, also associates a Hermann Hesse prize.
Other best-known works of this poet, novelist, and painter include The Glass Bead Game , which, also known as Magister Ludi, explore a search of an individual for spirituality outside society.
In his time, Hesse was a popular and influential author in the German-speaking world; worldwide fame only came later. Young Germans desiring a different and more "natural" way of life at the time of great economic and technological progress in the country, received enthusiastically Peter Camenzind , first great novel of Hesse.
Throughout Germany, people named many schools. In 1964, people founded the Calwer Hermann-Hesse-Preis, awarded biennially, alternately to a German-language literary journal or to the translator of work of Hesse to a foreign language. The city of Karlsruhe, Germany, also associates a Hermann Hesse prize.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
March 9, 2023
Deep. Profound. Humbling. Mesmerising. There are so many ways I can describe this book but the best would be by saying that "it changed my Life."
This book is an anthology of Hesse's reflections on Trees. It sometimes draws similarities between trees and humans. It talks about what trees can and do symbolise in our life. It embodies nostalgia and childhood. It drips spirituality and poetry. I am in love 💜
Everyone should read this book atleast once in theirs lives.
🌳🌳🌳
This book is an anthology of Hesse's reflections on Trees. It sometimes draws similarities between trees and humans. It talks about what trees can and do symbolise in our life. It embodies nostalgia and childhood. It drips spirituality and poetry. I am in love 💜
Everyone should read this book atleast once in theirs lives.
🌳🌳🌳
May 8, 2022
This exquisite collection of Hermann Hesse’s prose, poetry and drawings about trees was provided to me by Kales Press. It is a lovely small book with watercolor illustrations painted by Hesse, a Nobel Prize for Literature winner (1946). In the opening piece Hesse writes "Nothing is more sacred, nothing more exemplary, than a strong and beautiful tree." Trees are inspirational and are also our strongest allies in dealing with climate change. Trees offer us a connection with past generations and those yet to come. In a world where so many of us have lost our connection with nature, this collection offers a grounding influence. Hesse reminds us that the life of a tree is a metaphor for our own life of perseverance, happiness, and purpose. This book also feels right in the hands, easy to carry on walks among the trees and to ponder their beauty. It was a pleasure to read.
January 29, 2023
A wonderful collection of poems, paintings, and prose. Some very gentle, botanical and innocent, some more philosophical. A book to dip into in a quiet moment.
December 8, 2023
the most precious book.
February 29, 2024
Art is amazing, 1st poem made me tear up and it only got better from there. I freaking love trees. Got this from the library but will be ordering a copy for myself.
December 29, 2024
some people have the bible. I have this.
November 1, 2025
Never looking at trees the same way again after reading this.
August 20, 2023
This small book is a lovely collection of poems, excerpts from Hesse’s prose, and color reproductions of Hesse’s paintings of trees and forests. It’s not a book for scholars; the selections are shorn of context, and the longest is perhaps seven pages. Rather, it’s a perfect book to read before going to bed, or on waking up: calm and thoughtful, a reminder that life is full of transient beauty. Not all of Hesse’s observations resonate with me; some are too mystical, and a few strike me as simply wrong. But none of these selections offer a sustained philosophic argument anyway; they are meditations, of the sort one might find in a Transcendentalist’s devotional. Between the lyric writing (I don’t know how original German reads, but the translation here sings) and the paintings, this book is a comfort.
December 19, 2024
A beautiful tribute to the Lorax (2012, animated)
But in all seriousness, you can’t write like this and receive any less than a 5 star from me. Some gems:
—
“I look at it, read the script of its ribs and veins, and breathe in this reminder, so strange, of the impermanence we shudder before, and yet without which nothing would be beautiful. It is marvelous how beauty and death, pleasure and impermanence have each other in prerequisite and consequence!”
—
“It is a truth: none is wise
Who does not know the dark
That inescapably separates him
From every other creatures eyes?”
—
“There are many people who can’t say goodbye to a beautiful view without vowing to come back again soon…they do not have the wanderer’s soul—quiet, earnestly cheerful, always saying goodbye.”
—
“I want to be ephemeral and fleeting, child and flower.”
But in all seriousness, you can’t write like this and receive any less than a 5 star from me. Some gems:
—
“I look at it, read the script of its ribs and veins, and breathe in this reminder, so strange, of the impermanence we shudder before, and yet without which nothing would be beautiful. It is marvelous how beauty and death, pleasure and impermanence have each other in prerequisite and consequence!”
—
“It is a truth: none is wise
Who does not know the dark
That inescapably separates him
From every other creatures eyes?”
—
“There are many people who can’t say goodbye to a beautiful view without vowing to come back again soon…they do not have the wanderer’s soul—quiet, earnestly cheerful, always saying goodbye.”
—
“I want to be ephemeral and fleeting, child and flower.”
Read
March 19, 2025Delightful romanticism.
A favorite passage -
In Full Flower
The cherry tree is in full flower;
Not every blossom will turn to fruit.
Like a foam of roses they shimmer bright
Through the blue sky and the drifting clouds.
Our thoughts arise like cherry blossoms,
Hundreds every single day--
Let them bloom! Let each run its course
And do not ask what it might bring!
This game must be played in innocence,
Must flower in purse exuberance,
Or else the world would be much too small,
And this life of ours no joy at all.
A favorite passage -
In Full Flower
The cherry tree is in full flower;
Not every blossom will turn to fruit.
Like a foam of roses they shimmer bright
Through the blue sky and the drifting clouds.
Our thoughts arise like cherry blossoms,
Hundreds every single day--
Let them bloom! Let each run its course
And do not ask what it might bring!
This game must be played in innocence,
Must flower in purse exuberance,
Or else the world would be much too small,
And this life of ours no joy at all.
April 10, 2024
one of my favourite books EVER. makes me wanna write poems and draw sketches of trees and forests and lakes for the rest of my life. i already love love love love lllllooooveeed hermann hesse’s writing but this book made me fall in love with his poetry too <3
(i just read that he was influenced by carl jung’s teachings and that just made SO MUCH SENSE and made me love him 4875638290 times more.)
(i just read that he was influenced by carl jung’s teachings and that just made SO MUCH SENSE and made me love him 4875638290 times more.)
January 1, 2025
Qué bendición haber nacido con ojos que pueden leer este espléndido libro. Dios mío nunca había apreciado tanto un compendio de poemas. Quién sea que reunió todos estos poemas de el increíble Herman Hesse te amo muchísimas gracias por hacer esto específicamente para mí. La estética de los poemas con la obra pictórica y la pura belleza de los textos me movieron a las lágrimas incontables veces, gracias Dios por ponerme enfrente este libro.
January 20, 2023
Years ago I went through a Hermann Hesse reading binge. This was a perfect book to reacquaint myself with a favorite author. This book would be an easy read, but Hesse's ability to speak to human feelings while discussing trees will cause you to go slow while contemplating his words. It is a book I will return to many times.
February 17, 2023
Lovely little book. The translation was so great that one would be hard pressed to notice it wasn't originally in English. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of cherished times & places I will never know. It was given to me as a gift, but when I looked up the price, I was a bit horrified. So, it won't be something I buy for others just yet.
January 14, 2025
Such a beautiful collection of poems and prose, full of detailed, tender observations and descriptions of trees. This is now one of my favorite books. It feels like medicine for the soul, bringing with it the appreciation for nature and the present moment. It explores the beauty of the different seasons; the different kinds of trees, their habitats and animal inhabitants.
July 12, 2025
Course these writings gave me an even greater affinity for the man. Anyone who loves trees like Herm is a real one. Short, simple, earnest and authentic writings on physical place and ones part in it, especially the trees therein
August 12, 2022
A deeper understanding of Hesse
I found this to be an intimate journey exploring a side of the personal influences nature had on his life.
I found this to be an intimate journey exploring a side of the personal influences nature had on his life.
March 17, 2023
Agreed!
May 12, 2023
Trees!
July 8, 2023
A beautiful combination of paintings, poetry, and meditative reflections on trees and so much more.
January 7, 2024
a gentle, magical and lovely book.
May 23, 2025
We should all hug trees a little more
January 11, 2024
Les arbres.
De nos jours, j’ai l’impression que les arbres sont pris que par leur capacité guérissante ou dissimulante pour corriger nos propres erreurs. Je me suis souvent dit que l’arbre n’était qu’une décoration à l’entrée de ma maison, qu’il était qu’un matériaux important à la survie de l’humain.. son combustible.
Herman Hesse, d’œuvre en œuvre, continue de réinventer la façon dont je perçoit mon environnement ainsi que ma place dans celui-ci.
L’arbre pour Hesse n’est pas matériel ni adjacent mais plutôt le centre de notre univers. Il est la beauté et la santé. La longévité et la différence. J’ai l’impression que pour cet auteur, l’arbre est humain. Il est vivant tout comme nous et Hermann invite chacun de ses lecteurs à prendre conscience de son environnement et de le contempler pour ce qu’il est et d’en prendre exemple.
Bref, à l’aide de sa prose chevronnée ainsi que de sa poésie, nous sommes incités à rentrer dans les racines des feuillus et de s’élever à la hauteur des séquoias. Nous ne sommes plus humains maîtres de la terre, mais plutôt espèce vivantes qui habite la terre. Les arbres seraient notre maître, l’exemple à suivre.. notre réel dieu.
(mon texte n’a pas été corrigé désolé)
De nos jours, j’ai l’impression que les arbres sont pris que par leur capacité guérissante ou dissimulante pour corriger nos propres erreurs. Je me suis souvent dit que l’arbre n’était qu’une décoration à l’entrée de ma maison, qu’il était qu’un matériaux important à la survie de l’humain.. son combustible.
Herman Hesse, d’œuvre en œuvre, continue de réinventer la façon dont je perçoit mon environnement ainsi que ma place dans celui-ci.
L’arbre pour Hesse n’est pas matériel ni adjacent mais plutôt le centre de notre univers. Il est la beauté et la santé. La longévité et la différence. J’ai l’impression que pour cet auteur, l’arbre est humain. Il est vivant tout comme nous et Hermann invite chacun de ses lecteurs à prendre conscience de son environnement et de le contempler pour ce qu’il est et d’en prendre exemple.
Bref, à l’aide de sa prose chevronnée ainsi que de sa poésie, nous sommes incités à rentrer dans les racines des feuillus et de s’élever à la hauteur des séquoias. Nous ne sommes plus humains maîtres de la terre, mais plutôt espèce vivantes qui habite la terre. Les arbres seraient notre maître, l’exemple à suivre.. notre réel dieu.
(mon texte n’a pas été corrigé désolé)
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews