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", 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 "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."

Biography

Early years and education: 1886–1908

Kilmer was born December 6, 1886, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the fourth and youngest child, of Annie Ellen Kilburn, a minor writer and composer, and Frederick Barnett Kilmer, a physician and analytical chemist employed by the Johnson and Johnson Company and inventor of the company's baby powder. He was named Alfred Joyce Kilmer after two priests at Christ Church in New Brunswick: Alfred R. Taylor, the curate; and Elisha Brooks Joyce, the rector. Christ Church is the oldest Episcopal parish in New Brunswick and the Kilmer family were parishioners. Rector Joyce, who served the parish from 1883 to 1916, baptised the young Kilmer, who remained an Episcopalian until his 1913 conversion to Catholicism. Kilmer's birthplace in New Brunswick, where the Kilmer family lived from 1886 to 1892, is still standing and houses a small museum to Kilmer, as well as a few Middlesex County government offices.

Kilmer entered Rutgers College Grammar School (now Rutgers Preparatory School) in 1895 at the age of 8. During his years at the Grammar School, Kilmer was editor-in-chief of the school's paper, the Argo, and loved the classics but had difficulty with Greek. He won the first Lane Classical Prize, for oratory, and obtained a scholarship to Rutgers College which he would attend the following year. Despite his difficulties with Greek and mathematics, he stood at the head of his class in preparatory school. However, he was unable to complete the curriculum's rigorous mathematics requirement and was asked to repeat his sophomore year. Under pressure from his mother, Kilmer transferred to Columbia University in New York City. The Kilmers had five children: Kenton Sinclair Kilmer (1909–1995); Rose Kilburn Kilmer (1912–1917); Deborah Clanton Kilmer (1914–1999), who became a nun ("Sister Michael") at the Saint Benedict Monastery, St. Joseph, Minnesota; Michael Barry Kilmer (1916–1927); and Christopher Kilmer (1917–1984).

When the Kilmers' daughter Rose (1912–1917) was stricken with poliomyelitis (also known as infantile paralysis) shortly after birth,

With the publication of "Trees" in the magazine Poetry in August 1913, Kilmer gained immense popularity as a poet across the United States. He had established himself as a successful lecturer—particularly one seeking to reach a Catholic audience. His close friend and editor Robert Holliday wrote that it "is not an unsupported assertion to say that he was in his time and place the laureate of the Catholic Church."

War years: 1917–1918 Sgt. Joyce Kilmer, as a member of the 165th Infantry Regiment, United States Army, c. 1918

In April 1917, a few days after the United States entered World War I, Kilmer enlisted in the Seventh Regiment of the New York National Guard. In August, Kilmer was assigned as a statistician with the 165th Infantry Regiment (better known as the re-designated "Fighting 69th", the 69th New York Infantry Regiment), of the 42nd "Rainbow" Division, and quickly rose to the rank of sergeant. Though he was eligible for commission as an officer and often recommended for such posts during the course of the war, Kilmer refused, stating that he would rather be a sergeant in the Fighting 69th than an officer in any other regiment. Kilmer did not write such a book; however, toward the end of the year, he did find time to write prose sketches and poetry. The most notable of his poems during this period was "Rouge Bouquet" (1918) which commemorated the deaths of two dozen members of his regiment in a German artillery barrage on American trench positions in the Rouge Bouquet forest north-east of the French village of Baccarat. At the time, this was a relatively quiet sector of the front, but the first battalion was struck by a German heavy artillery bombardment on the afternoon of March 7, 1918, that buried 21 men of the unit, killing 19 (of which 14 remained entombed).

Kilmer sought more hazardous duty and was transferred to the military intelligence section of his regiment, in April 1918. In a letter to his wife, Aline, he remarked: "Now I'm doing work I love – and work you may be proud of. None of the drudgery of soldiering, but a double share of glory and thrills." For his valor, Kilmer was posthumously awarded the Croix de Guerre (War Cross) by the French Republic.

Kilmer was buried in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery and Memorial, near Fere-en-Tardenois, Aisne, Picardy, France just across the road and stream from the farm where he was killed. A cenotaph erected to his memory is located on the Kilmer family plot in Elmwood Cemetery, in North Brunswick, New Jersey. A Memorial Mass was celebrated at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on October 14, 1918.

Works

"Trees"

The Kilmer family lived in this home on Airmount Road in Mahwah, New Jersey. It was here that his poem "Trees" was written in February 1913.Joyce Kilmer's reputation as a poet is staked largely on the widespread popularity of one poem—"Trees" (1913). It was first published in the August 1913 issue of Poetry: A Magazine of Verse which had begun publishing the year before in Chicago, Illinois and was included as the title poem in a collection of poems Trees and Other Poems (1914). According to Kilmer's oldest son, Kenton, the poem was written on February 2, 1913, when the family resided in Mahwah, New Jersey.

Many locations including Rutgers University (where Kilmer attended for two years), University of Notre Dame, as well as historians in Mahwah, New Jersey and in other places, have boasted that a specific tree was the inspiration for Kilmer's poem. However, Kenton Kilmer refutes these claims, remarking that, Mother and I agreed, when we talked about it, that Dad never meant his poem to apply to one particular tree, or to the trees of any special region. Just any trees or all trees that might be rained on or snowed on, and that would be suitable nesting places for robins. I guess they'd have to have upward-reaching branches, too, for the line about 'lifting leafy arms to pray.' Rule out weeping willows." Its popularity has also led to parodies of the poem—some by noted poets and writers. The pattern of its first lines (I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree.) is of seemingly simple rhyme and meter and easy to mimic along with the poem's choice of metaphors. One of the best known parodies is "Song of the Open Road" by American humorist and poet Ogden Nash (1902–1971):

Influences upon Kilmer's verse Kilmer's early works were inspired by, and were imitative of, the poetry of Algernon Charles Swinburne, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Ernest Dowson, Aubrey Beardsley, and William Butler Yeats (and the Celtic Revival). It was later through the influence of works by Coventry Patmore, Francis Thompson, and those of Alice Meynell and her children Viola Meynell and Francis Meynell, that Kilmer seems to have become interested in Catholicism.

Legacy Kilmer's death at age 31 denied him the opportunity to develop into a more mature poet. Because modern critics often dismiss "Trees" as simple verse, much of Kilmer's work (especially his literary criticism) has slipped into obscurity. Only a very few of his poems have appeared in anthologies, and with the exception of "Trees"—and to a much lesser extent "Rouge Bouquet" (1917–1918)—almost none have obtained lasting widespread popularity.

In the 1940 film, "The Fighting 69th", the role of Sergeant Joyce Kilmer was portrayed by actor Jeffrey Lynn.

Tributes

On November 8, 2025, as part of Veterans Day weekend, a refurbished plaque honoring Kilmer was unveiled in Central Park, New York City. The original plaque was laid down in 1931 and the renovation was undertaken via a collaboration between the Central Parks Conservancy and Veteran-run civics non-profit Operation Restore Decency. Before a crowd of 15 attendees, "Rouge Bouquet" was read aloud by Operation Restore Decency founder, U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Debjeet Sarkar followed by "Trees" which was read by Joyce Kilmer Society founder, Alex Michelini of Mahwah, NJ. The ceremony started with The National Anthem and concluded with "Taps" at 11:11am for Armistice Day. Both were played by US Navy Veteran and bugler for Taps for Veterans, Stephen De Luca. Sgt. Joyce Kilmer Triangle in Midwood, Brooklyn is named after him. The triangle, a resting place on Kings Highway (Brooklyn) intersecting Quentin Road, between East 12th and 13th Streets , is the smallest park in New York City. occupying of land. Joyce Kilmer Park in the Bronx, New York, near Yankee Stadium, is named after him.

New Jersey

A service plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike in East Brunswick is named after Kilmer Rutgers University had a plaque placed in 1986 that honors Kilmer at 50 Labor Center Way Inside Kirkpatrick Chapel, there is plaque in memory of those who died during the Great War from Rutgers College, Kilmer is listed at the bottom of the second column Joyce Kilmer School in Mahwah, New Jersey is named after him. Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Cherry Hill, New Jersey

Illinois Joyce Kilmer Triangle in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago is dedicated to him. A Chicago-area American Legion post named after Kilmer dedicated a plaque there at a small triangle formed by the intersection of Rogers Avenue, Ashland Avenue and Birchwood Avenue. Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Chicago Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Buffalo Grove North Carolina Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest in North Carolina, part of the Nantahala National Forest, is named after Kilmer. Virginia The National Museum of the US Army features Kilmer in its "Soldiers' Stories" exhibit in the main lobby, Fort Belvoir, VA. Kilmer Middle School in Vienna, Virginia is named for Kilmer. Pennsylvania Joyce Kilmer Natural Area in Bald Eagle State Forest, Pennsylvania is named after him. South Township, PA features a traffic circle centerpiece memorial to Kilmer with 2 metallic plaques and an open metal book with "Trees". Massachusetts Joyce Kilmer School in West Roxbury (Boston), MA

Works 1911: Summer of Love (poetry) 1914: Trees and Other Poems (poetry) 1916: The Circus and Other Essays (essays) 1917: Main Street and Other Poems (poetry) 1917: The Courage of Enlightenment: An address delivered in Campion College, Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, to the members of the graduating class, June 15, 1917 1917: Dreams and Images: An Anthology of Catholic Poets (poetry anthology, edited by Kilmer) 1917: Literature in the Making by some of its Makers (criticism) 1918: Poems, Essays and Letters in Two Volumes Volume One: Memoir and Poems, Volume Two: prose works (collected works) (published posthumously, edited by Robert Cortes Holliday) 1919: Kilmer's unfinished history of the Fighting 69th (145th Infantry) is posthumously printed in Father Duffy's Story by Francis P. Duffy (New York: Doran, 1919) 1921: The Circus and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces (published posthumously)