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The Splendor of the Natural World

Upon first reading “Trees,” it’s immediately clear that the poem’s speaker stands in awe of the natural world’s splendor. They indicate as much in the opening couplet, where they boldly claim that no poem could ever be as lovely as a tree. In the four couplets that follow, the speaker elaborates on various ways that “a tree” might display its splendor. First is the extraordinary way trees draw nutrients from the ground, effectively suckling at “earth’s sweet-flowing breast” (line 4). Second, the speaker remarks on the apparent piety of trees, which stand with their “leafy arms” (line 6) open wide as if in a gesture of devotion. Third, the speaker notes how trees draw other life to them, particularly when, fully leafed out in their “Summer wear,” they give shelter to “a nest of robins” (lines 7–8). Finally, the speaker admires the way trees endure snow and rain with equal poise. Each of these examples serves as evidence in support of the claim announced in the opening couplet. If no poem could ever be as lovely as a tree, it’s because, unlike trees, poems don’t exhibit such splendid signs of life.

The Miracle of God’s Creation

Although the speaker is clearly enamored of the natural world, it isn’t simply because of nature’s self-evident splendor. Indeed, the speaker is devoted to the natural world because it’s a result of God’s Creation. The first clear indication of the speaker’s faith in God appears in the third stanza (lines 5–6):

     A tree that looks at God all day,
     And lifts her leafy arms to pray

Here, the speaker marvels at the way trees stand with their “leafy arms” reaching upward in a gesture of devotion to God. In this way, trees appear to reflect some kind of occult awareness that they are part of God’s Creation. The speaker clearly finds the tree’s apparent piety miraculous, which may help explain why they personify trees throughout the poem, describing them as if they were human. If trees are human-like, it’s because they recognize themselves as created beings and honor their creator. The speaker subtly implies this logic in the rhyming couplet that concludes the poem (lines 11–12):

     Poems are made by fools like me,
     But only God can make a tree.

By rhyming “me” and “tree,” the speaker indicates that the real point of comparison shouldn’t be between poems and trees, since these entities have different creators. Instead, the speaker should be drawing a comparison between themself and the tree, both of whom are devotional subjects who are products of God’s miraculous Creation.

The Limits of Verse

Whereas trees are living beings that know their place within God’s Creation, poems are little more than human-made artifacts and thus inherently limited. A poem might be able to reflect the poet’s faith or communicate their devotion to God. However, a poem will never be a living entity who owes its existence directly to the divine Creator. It is for this reason that the speaker declares, “I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree” (lines 1–2). And yet, with a gentle sense of irony, the speaker has chosen to express their idea about the limits of verse in verse. This isn’t to say that the poem somehow isn’t successful. Indeed, it’s a tightly structured work that uses meter and rhyme in a way that reflect the qualities of harmony and balance the speaker admires in the natural world. What results is a deceptively simple poem that functions as a powerful expression of faith. Yet however “successful” the poem may be as a creative act of devotion, the speaker has the humility to know that it can’t compete with the miraculous dynamism of Creation itself.

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