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Under the Trees: A Poem, a Painting, a Wallpaper

Friday · July 31, 2026 · Joyce Kilmer’s poem ‘Trees,’ Asher B. Durand’s painting ‘In the Woods,’ and William Morris’s ‘Willow Bough’ wallpaper, on the theme of trees and woodland.
I · Poem

Trees

Joyce Kilmer · 1913

Twelve lines arranged in six rhyming couplets, the poem first appeared in the August 1913 issue of Poetry magazine.[1] It was collected the following year in Kilmer’s volume Trees and Other Poems.[2]

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.
Joyce Kilmer · Poetry, August 1913
About the maker
Joyce Kilmer was born on December 6, 1886, in New Brunswick, New Jersey.[2]
He attended Rutgers and Columbia universities before joining the staff of The New York Times in 1913.[2]
His most celebrated poem, ‘Trees,’ gave its name to his 1914 collection Trees and Other Poems.[2]
He was killed in action near Seringes, France, on July 30, 1918, during the First World War, and was awarded the Croix de Guerre.[2]
Sources
  1. Joyce Kilmer, ‘Trees,’ Poetry magazine, August 1913 (Poetry Foundation).
  2. ‘Joyce Kilmer,’ Encyclopaedia Britannica.
II · Painting

In the Woods

Asher B. Durand · 1855

Two large trees frame a view straight into dense summer woodland, their trunks rising the full height of the tall canvas above a shaded forest floor of rocks, ferns, and fallen wood, with a stream at the lower center. The oil on canvas measures 154.3 × 121.9 cm (60 3/4 × 48 in.) and is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which marks it Open Access and in the public domain.[1]

A vertical view into dense woodland with tall tree trunks, a shaded forest floor of rocks and fallen wood, and a stream at the center.
Asher B. Durand, In the Woods, 1855. Oil on canvas, 154.3 × 121.9 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1]
About the maker
Asher Brown Durand was born in 1796 in Jefferson Village, now Maplewood, New Jersey.[2]
He apprenticed to the engraver Peter Maverick from 1812 to 1817 and won wide notice for his 1823 engraving of John Trumbull’s Declaration of Independence.[2]
He turned from engraving to landscape painting during the 1830s, encouraged by the merchant patron Luman Reed.[2]
He painted Kindred Spirits in 1849 and served as president of the National Academy of Design.[2]
A leading figure of the Hudson River School, he died in 1886.[2]
Sources
  1. Asher Brown Durand, ‘In the Woods’ (1855), accession 95.13.1, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access).
  2. ‘Asher Brown Durand (1796–1886),’ The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
III · Print

Willow Bough

William Morris · 1887

The repeating pattern shows slender willow stems with long, narrow, pointed leaves that turn and overlap in an even all-over design across the sheet. Block-printed in distemper colors by Jeffrey & Co. for Morris & Company, the wallpaper sheet measures 68.6 × 54.6 cm (27 × 21 1/2 in.) and is held by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which marks it Open Access and in the public domain.[1]

A repeating wallpaper pattern of slender willow stems with narrow pointed leaves overlapping across the sheet.
William Morris, Willow Bough, 1887. Block-printed wallpaper, 68.6 × 54.6 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art.[1]
About the maker
William Morris, an English designer, craftsman, poet, and early socialist, was born in 1834 in Walthamstow, then in Essex.[2]
He was a central figure of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain.[2]
He founded the decorative-arts firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. in 1861, later reorganized as Morris & Co.[2]
His designs spanned wallpapers, textiles, furniture, and stained glass.[2]
He founded the Kelmscott Press and died in 1896.[2]
Sources
  1. William Morris, ‘Willow Bough’ (1887), accession 23.163.4k, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Open Access).
  2. ‘William Morris,’ Encyclopaedia Britannica.