Mahwah February 13, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 5 Kilmer poem recalled on 100th Anniversary by Frank J. McMahon Joyce Kilmer’s immortal poem about the beauty and the majesty of trees that was written 100 years ago was recently remembered by Mahwah’s township and library officials. The group gathered at the Mahwah Library’s display of books by and about the poet and journalist. Born Alfred Joyce Kilmer on Dec. 6, 1886 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Kilmer dropped the use of his first name after his poems began to be published. The poem “Trees” is believed to have been written by Kilmer while he lived in Mahwah a century ago and it contains only six verses. “I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the sweet earth’s 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.” Alex Michelini, a former member of the Mahwah Historic Preservation Commission, did extensive research on the origin of Kilmer’s poem and claims that research provides clear evidence that Kilmer lived in the township at the time his famous poem was written. Michelini supports that claim with information he discovered about Kilmer’s son and daughter that convinced him the poem was written on Feb. 2, 1913 in the Kilmer family’s house in Mahwah’s Cragmere section. To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the writing of “Trees,” Mayor William Laforet was recently joined by Councilmen John Spiech and John Roth, Library Director Kurt Hadeler, Mahwah Library Board President Curtis Koster, and Mahwah Library Adult Programming/Outreach Coordinator Denise Laude in remembering the poet and his famous work. Spiech read a proclamation by the mayor that declared Feb. 2, 2013 as Joyce Kilmer Day in the township and Above left: Joyce Kilmer at age 22 from the Columbia University yearbook. Above right: Mahwah Mayor William Laforet and Councilman John Spiech hold the mayor’s proclamation and a copy of Joyce Kilmer’s poem as Library Director Kurt Hadeler (L) and Councilman John Roth look on. encouraged all Mahwah residents to celebrate the 100th anniversary of “Trees” and honor the poet and World War I hero. “I’m deeply gratified by the proclamation prepared by Mayor Laforet and presented by Councilmen John Roth and John Spiech and for putting together this tremendous tribute,” Michelini said. “They did a wonderful job and it makes it worthwhile for me to have done the research and to see this result. “Over almost a century, millions of school children have learned the poem by heart. It has been revered by arborists, set to music in renditions by Nelson Eddy, Robert Merrill and Paul Robeson, spotlighted in Hollywood films of Walt Disney, Our Gang’s Alfalfa, and Marlon Brando in “Superman II,” and translated into many foreign languages. Michelini points out that the 12-line poem also ranks high on M.H. Forsyth’s list of the 50 “Most Quoted Lines of Poetry,” which surpasses those of major works by literary giants such as T.S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, Sam Coleridge, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Rudyard Kipling, and even some by the Bard of Avon. “In a report I submitted when I was a member of the Mahwah Historic Preservation Commission, I collected clear evidence that Joyce Kilmer’s ‘Trees’ was written on Feb. 2, 1913 in his house at the corner of Airmount and (continued on page 17)