Joyce Kilmer
Alfred Joyce Kilmer (December 6, 1886 – July 30, 1918) was an
American writer and
poet mainly remembered for a short poem titled "
Trees" (1913), which was published in the collection ''Trees and Other Poems'' in 1914. Though a prolific poet whose works celebrated the common beauty of the
natural world as well as his
Catholic faith, Kilmer was also a
journalist,
literary critic,
lecturer, and
editor. At the time of his deployment to Europe during
World War I, Kilmer was considered the leading American Catholic poet and lecturer of his generation, whom critics often compared to British contemporaries
G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) and
Hilaire Belloc (1870–1953). He enlisted in the
New York National Guard and was deployed to
France with the
69th Infantry Regiment (the famous "Fighting 69th") in 1917. He was killed by a
sniper's bullet at the
Second Battle of the Marne in 1918 at the age of 31. He was married to
Aline Murray, also an accomplished poet and
author, with whom he had five children.
While most of his works are largely unknown today, a select few of his poems remain popular and are published frequently in
anthologies. Several critics—including both Kilmer's contemporaries and modern scholars—have dismissed Kilmer's work as being too simple and overly
sentimental, and suggested that his style was far too traditional, even archaic. Many writers, including notably
Ogden Nash, have
parodied Kilmer's work and style—as attested by the many imitations of "Trees."
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