Joyce Kilmer: Quotes about God

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

Joyce Kilmer Trees and Other Poems

"Trees" - This poem was first published in Poetry: A Magazine of Verse Vol. 2 (August 1913). The first two lines were first written down on the 2nd of February 1913.
Trees and Other Poems (1914)
Context: 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.

God , Fools , Tree

“May we, their grateful children, learn
⁠Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
⁠At last the accolade of God.”

Joyce Kilmer Trees and Other Poems

"Memorial Day"; this poem was later published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920)
Trees and Other Poems (1914)
Context: The bugle echoes shrill and sweet,
But not of war it sings to-day.
The road is rhythmic with the feet
⁠Of men-at-arms who come to pray. The roses blossom white and red
⁠On tombs where weary soldiers lie;
Flags wave above the honored dead
⁠And martial music cleaves the sky. Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel,
⁠They kept the faith and fought the fight.
Through flying lead and crimson steel
⁠They plunged for Freedom and the Right. May we, their grateful children, learn
⁠Their strength, who lie beneath this sod,
Who went through fire and death to earn
⁠At last the accolade of God.In shining rank on rank arrayed
They march, the legions of the Lord;
He is their Captain unafraid,
The Prince of Peace... Who brought a sword.</p

Death , God , Children , Lie

“Yes, God forgives and men forget,
And you're forgiven and forgotten.”

Joyce Kilmer Trees and Other Poems

"To A Young Poet Who Killed Himself"
Trees and Other Poems (1914)
Context: Yes, God forgives and men forget,
And you're forgiven and forgotten.
You might be gaily sinning yet
And quick and fresh instead of rotten.
And when you think of love and fame
And all that might have come to pass,
Then don't you feel a little shame?
And don't you think you were an ass?

Men , God , Forgiveness , Forgetting

“God be thanked for the Milky Way that runs across the sky,
That's the path that my feet would tread whenever I have to die.”

Joyce Kilmer

"Main Street"
Main Street and Other Poems (1917)
Context: God be thanked for the Milky Way that runs across the sky,
That's the path that my feet would tread whenever I have to die.
Some folks call it a Silver Sword, and some a Pearly Crown,
But the only thing I think it is, is Main Street, Heaventown.

God , Way

“They shall not live who have not tasted death.
They only sing who are struck dumb by God.”

Joyce Kilmer Trees and Other Poems

"Poets"
Trees and Other Poems (1914)
Context: p>Vain is the chiming of forgotten bells
That the wind sways above a ruined shrine.
Vainer his voice in whom no longer dwells
Hunger that craves immortal Bread and Wine. Light songs we breathe that perish with our breath
Out of our lips that have not kissed the rod.
They shall not live who have not tasted death.
They only sing who are struck dumb by God.</p

Death , God , Singing

“I have no vision of gods, not of Eros with love-arrows laden,
Jupiter thundering death or of Juno his white-breasted queen,
Yet have I seen
All of the joy of the world in the innocent heart of a maiden.”

Joyce Kilmer Trees and Other Poems

"Vision"
Trees and Other Poems (1914)

Love , Death , God , World

“This man has home and child and wife
And battle set for every day.
This man has God and love and life;
These stand, all else shall pass away.”

Joyce Kilmer Trees and Other Poems

Trees and Other Poems (1914), Delicatessen

Love , Life , God , Home

“David is the song upon God's lips,
And Our Lady is the goblet that He sips:
And Gabriel's the breath of His command,
But Saint Michael is the sword in God's right hand. The Ivory Tower is fair to see,
And may her walls encompass me!
But when the Devil comes with the thunder of his might,
Saint Michael, show me how to fight!”

Joyce Kilmer

Main Street and Other Poems (1917), The Thorn

God , Fight