cchoi1022/wikitext-103-v1 · Datasets at Hugging Face

text stringlengths 0 6.86k
in 2013 the notebook alluded to by kilmer 's son was uncovered by journalist and kilmer researcher alex <unk> in georgetown university 's lauinger library in a collection of family papers donated to the university by kilmer 's granddaughter miriam kilmer the mrs henry mills alden to whom the poem was dedicated was ada foster murray alden ( 1866 1936 ) the mother of kilmer 's wife aline murray kilmer ( 1888 1941 ) alden a writer had married harper 's magazine editor henry mills alden in 1900

= = = kilmer 's inspiration = = =

kilmer 's poetry was influenced by his strong religious faith and dedication to the natural beauty of the world
although several communities across the united states claim to have inspired trees nothing can be established specifically regarding kilmer 's inspiration except that he wrote the poem while residing in mahwah both kilmer 's widow aline and his son kenton refuted these claims in their correspondence with researchers and by kenton in his memoir kenton wrote to university of notre dame researcher dorothy colson
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
according to kenton kilmer the upstairs room in which the poem was written looked down the hill over the family 's well @@ wooded lawn that contained trees of many kinds from mature trees to thin saplings oaks maples black and white birches and i do not know what else a published interview with joyce kilmer in 1915 mentioned the poet 's large woodpile at the family 's mahwah home
while kilmer might be widely known for his affection for trees his affection was certainly not sentimental the most distinguished feature of kilmer 's property was a colossal woodpile outside his home the house stood in the middle of a forest and what lawn it possessed was obtained only after kilmer had spent months of weekend toil in chopping down trees pulling up stumps and splitting logs kilmer 's neighbors had difficulty in believing that a man who could do that could also be a poet

= = <unk> and analysis = =

trees is a poem of twelve lines in strict iambic tetrameter all but one of the lines has the full eight syllables of iambic tetrameter the eleventh or penultimate line begins on the stressed syllable of the iambic foot and drops the unstressed syllable an acephalous ( or headless ) catalectic line that results in a truncated seven @@ syllable iambic tetrameter line making the meter of a line catalectic can change the feeling of the poem and is often used to achieve a certain effect as a way of changing tone or announcing a conclusion the poem 's rhyme scheme is rhyming couplets rendered aa <unk> cc <unk> ee aa
despite its deceptive simplicity in rhyme and meter trees is notable for its use of personification and anthropomorphic imagery the tree of the poem which kilmer depicts as female is depicted as pressing its mouth to the earth 's breast looking at god and raising its leafy arms to pray the tree of the poem also has human physical attributes it has a hungry mouth arms hair ( in which robins nest ) and a bosom
rutgers @@ newark english professor and poet rachel hadas described the poem as being rather slight although it is free of irony and self consciousness except that little reference to fools like me at the end which i find kind of charming scholar mark royden winchell points out that kilmer 's depiction of the tree indicates the possibility that he had several different people in mind because of the variety of anthropomorphic descriptions winchell posits that if the tree described were to be a single human being it would be an anatomically deformed one
in the second stanza the tree is a sucking babe drawing nourishment from mother earth in the third it is a supplicant reaching its leafy arms to the sky in prayer in the fourth stanza the tree is a girl with jewels ( a nest of robins ) in her hair and in the fifth it is a chaste woman living alone with nature and with god there is no warrant in the poem to say that it is different trees that remind the poet of these different types of people
however winchell observes that this series of fanciful analogies could be presented in any order without damaging the overall structure of his poem

= = publication and reception = =


= = = publication = = =

trees was first published in the august 1913 issue of poetry a magazine of verse the magazine which had begun publishing the year before in chicago illinois quickly became the principal organ for modern poetry of the english @@ speaking world publishing the early works of poets who became the major influences on the development of twentieth @@ century literature ( including ts eliot ezra pound hd wallace stevens robert frost and edna st vincent millay ) poetry paid kilmer six dollars to print the poem which was immediately successful the following year kilmer included trees in his collection trees and other poems published by the george h doran company
joyce kilmer 's reputation as a poet is staked largely on the widespread popularity of this one poem trees was liked immediately on first publication in poetry a magazine of verse when trees and other poems was published the following year the review in poetry focused on the nursery rhyme directness and simplicity of the poems finding a particular childlike naivety in trees which gave it an unusual haunting poignancy however the same review criticized the rest of the book stating much of the verse in this volume is very slight indeed
despite the enduring popular appeal of trees most of joyce kilmer 's works are largely unknown and have fallen into obscurity a select few of his poems including trees are published frequently in anthologies trees began appearing in anthologies shortly after kilmer 's 1918 death the first inclusion being louis untermeyer 's modern american poetry ( 1919 ) journalist and author mark forsyth ranks the first two lines of trees as 26th out of 50 lines in an assessment of the most quoted lines of poetry as measured by google hits

= = = popular appeal = = =

with trees kilmer was said to have rediscovered simplicity and the simplicity of its message and delivery is a source of its appeal in 1962 english professor barbara <unk> recounted that her undergraduate students considered the poem as one of the finest poems ever written or at least a very good one even after its technical flaws were discussed because of its simple message and that it paints such lovely pictures the students pointed to how true the poem is and it appealed to both her students ' romantic attitude towards nature and their appreciation of life nature solace and beauty because of its message that the works of god completely overshadow our own feeble attempts at creation considering this sentiment the enduring popularity of trees is evinced by its association with annual arbor day observances and the planting of memorial trees as well as the several parks named in honor of kilmer including the joyce kilmer @@ slickrock wilderness and joyce kilmer memorial forest tracts within the nantahala national forest in graham county north carolina
trees has been described by literary critic guy davenport as the one poem known by practically everybody according to journalist rick hampson trees was memorized and recited by generations of students it comforted troops in the trenches of world war i it was set to music and set in stone declaimed in opera houses and vaudeville theaters intoned at ceremonies each april on arbor day according to robert holliday kilmer 's friend and editor trees speaks with authentic song to the simplest of hearts holliday added that this exquisite title poem now so universally known made his reputation more than all the rest he had written put together and was made for immediate widespread popularity

= = = critical reception = = =

several critics including both kilmer 's contemporaries and modern scholars have disparaged kilmer 's work as being too religious simple overly sentimental and suggested that his style was far too traditional even archaic poet conrad aiken a contemporary of kilmer lambasted his work as being unoriginal merely imitative with a sentimental bias and trotting out of the same faint passions the same old heartbreaks and love songs ghostly distillations of fragrances all too familiar aiken characterized kilmer as a dabbler in the pretty and sweet and pale @@ mouthed clingers to the artificial and archaic
kilmer is considered among the last of the romantic era poets because his verse is conservative and traditional in style and does not break any of the formal rules of poetics a style often criticized today for being too sentimental to be taken seriously the entire corpus of kilmer 's work was produced between 1909 and 1918 when romanticism and sentimental lyric poetry fell out of favor and modernism took root especially with the influence of the lost generation in the years after kilmer 's death poetry went in drastically different directions as is seen in the work of t s eliot and ezra pound and academic criticism grew with it to eschew the more sentimental and straightforward verse
the poem was criticized by cleanth brooks and robert penn warren in their textbook understanding poetry first published in 1938 brooks and warren were two of the major contributors to the new criticism movement where its supporters opposed using literature as a surrogate for religion new criticism proponents analyzed poetry on its aesthetic formulae and excluded reader 's response the author 's intention historical and cultural contexts and moralistic bias from their analysis they attributed the popularity of trees largely to its religious appeal and believed it was a stock response that has nothing to do as such with poetry adding
it praises god and appeals to a religious sentiment therefore people who do not stop to look at the poem itself or to study the images in the poem and think about what the poem really says are inclined to accept the poem because of the pious sentiment the <unk> little pictures ( which in themselves appeal to stock responses ) and the mechanical rhythm
literary critic mark royden winchell believed that brooks and warren 's criticism of kilmer 's poem was chiefly to demonstrate that it is sometimes possible to learn as much about poetry from bad poems as from good ones

= = <unk> claims regarding inspiration = =

due to the enduring popular appeal of trees several local communities and organizations across the united states have staked their claim to the genesis of the poem while the accounts of family members and of documents firmly establish mahwah being the place where kilmer wrote the poem several towns throughout the country have claimed that kilmer wrote trees while staying there or that a specific tree in their town inspired kilmer 's writing local tradition in <unk> new hampshire asserts without proof that kilmer wrote the poem while summering in the town montague massachusetts claims that either a sprawling maple dominated the grounds near a hospital where kilmer once was treated or a spreading maple in the yard of an old mansion inspired the poem
in new brunswick new jersey kilmer 's hometown the claim involved a large white oak on the cook college campus ( now the school of environmental and biological sciences ) at rutgers university this tree the kilmer oak was estimated to be over 300 years old because it had been weakened by age and disease the kilmer oak was removed in 1963 and in reporting by the new york times and other newspapers the local tradition was repeated with the claim that rutgers said it could not prove that kilmer had been inspired by the oak currently saplings from acorns of the historic tree are being grown at the site throughout the middlesex county and central new jersey as well as in major <unk> around the united states the remains of the original kilmer oak are presently kept in storage at rutgers university
because of kilmer 's close identification with roman catholicism and his correspondence with many priests and theologians a tree located near a grotto dedicated to the virgin mary at the university of notre dame in south bend indiana has been asserted as the inspiration for the poem according to dorothy corson the claim was first made by a priest named henry kemper there are several accounts that kilmer visited the campus of notre dame to lecture and to visit friends but none of these accounts or occasions date before 1914
in his 1997 book of essays entitled the geography of the imagination american writer guy davenport suggests a different inspiration for kilmer 's poem
trees were favorite symbols for yeats frost and even the young pound but kilmer had been reading about trees in another context [ ] the movement to stop child labor and set up nursery schools in slums margaret mcmillan had the happy idea that a breath of fresh air and an intimate acquaintance with grass and trees were worth all the pencils and desks in the whole school system the english word for gymnasium equipment is ' apparatus ' and in her book labour and childhood ( 1907 ) you will find this sentence ' apparatus can be made by fools but only god can make a <unk>
it appears that davenport must have loosely and erroneously paraphrased the sentiments expressed by mcmillan as this exact quote does not appear in her text instead mcmillan is expressing the observation that several nineteenth @@ century writers including william rankin william morris and thomas carlyle opposed the effects of machinery on society and craftsmanship and thus eschewed machine @@ made items davenport 's observation likely was derived in some way from mcmillan 's examination and quotation of carlyle
he ( carlyle ) often makes comparisons between men and machines and even trees and machines greatly to the disadvantage of the latter for example ' o that we could displace the machine god and put a man god in his place ' and ' i find no similitude of life so true as this of a tree beautiful machine of the universe '

= = adaptations and parodies = =


= = = musical adaptations = = =

several of kilmer 's poems including trees were set to music and published in england by kilmer 's mother annie kilburn kilmer who was a writer and amateur composer the more popular musical setting of kilmer 's poem was composed in 1922 by american pianist and composer oscar rasbach this setting had been performed and recorded frequently in twentieth century including ernestine schumann @@ heink john charles thomas nelson eddy robert merrill perry como and paul robeson rasbach 's song appeared on popular network television shows including all in the family performed by the puppets wayne and wanda in the muppet show and as an animated feature segment featuring fred waring and the pennsylvanians performing the song in the 1948 animated film melody time the last of the short @@ film anthology features produced by walt disney
rasbach 's setting has also been lampooned most notably in the our gang short film arbor day ( 1936 ) directed by fred c <unk> in which alfalfa ( played by carl switzer ) sings the song in a whiny strained voice after a woodsman spare that tree dialogue with spanky ( george mcfarland ) sings trees film critic leonard maltin has called this the poem 's all @@ time worst rendition in his album caught in the act victor borge when playing requests responds to a member of the audience sorry i don 't know that ' doggie in the window ' i know one that comes pretty close to it and proceeds to play the rasbach setting of trees
dutch composer henk van der vliet included a setting of trees as the third in a set of five songs written in 1977 which included texts by poets christina rossetti percy bysshe shelley kilmer matthew prior and sir john suckling

= = = parodies = = =

because of the varied reception to kilmer 's poem and its simple rhyme and meter it has been the model for several parodies written by humorists and poets alike while keeping with kilmer 's iambic tetrameter rhythm and its couplet rhyme scheme and references to the original poem 's thematic material such parodies are often immediately recognizable as is seen in song of the open road written by poet and humorist ogden nash i think that i shall never see / a billboard lovely as a tree / indeed unless the billboards fall / i 'll never see a tree at all
a similar sentiment was expressed in a 1968 episode of the animated series wacky races titled the wrong lumber race where the villainous dick dastardly chops down a tree and uses it as a roadblock against the other racers declaring proudly i think that i shall never see / a roadblock lovely as a tree
further trappist monk poet and spiritual writer thomas merton used kilmer 's poem as a model for a parody called chee $ e with a dollar sign purposefully substituted for the letter s in which merton ridiculed the lucrative sale of homemade cheese by his monastery the abbey of <unk> in kentucky this poem was not published during merton 's lifetime merton often criticized the commodification of monastic life and business for a profit claiming that it affected the well @@ being of the spirit in his poem merton attributed his parody to joyce killer @@ diller
like kilmer merton was a graduate of columbia university and a member of its literary society the philolexian society which has hosted the annual joyce kilmer memorial bad poetry contest since 1986 trees is read at the conclusion of each year 's event
kilmer 's poem was recited in the 1980 film superman ii as well as its 2006 director 's cut in the scene villain lex luthor ( played by gene hackman ) and others enter superman 's fortress of solitude and comes across a video of an elder ( john hollis ) from planet krypton reciting trees as an example of poetry from earth literature luthor ridicules the poem


= zygoballus sexpunctatus =

zygoballus sexpunctatus is a species of jumping spider which occurs in the southeastern united states where it can be found in a variety of grassy habitats adult spiders measure between 3 and 4 @@ 5 mm in length the cephalothorax and abdomen are bronze to black in color with reddish brown or yellowish legs the male has distinctive enlarged chelicerae ( the mouthparts used for grasping prey ) and front femora ( the third and typically largest leg segments ) like many jumping spiders z sexpunctatus males exhibit ritualized courtship and agonistic behavior

= = etymology = =

the specific name is derived from the latin sex meaning six and <unk> meaning spot this is a reference to the six spots typically occurring on the abdomen of the male

= = history and taxonomy = =

the species was first described by entomologist nicholas marcellus hentz in 1845 in the boston journal of natural history hentz named the species attus sexpunctatus and described it as follows
black cephalothorax with the two posterior eyes near the base which is wide and suddenly inclined at nearly a right angle with the upper surface <unk> with a strong inner tooth and a long curved fang abdomen with six dots and a line in front white feet 1 4 2 3 first pair with enlarged thighs and quite long
hentz classified a sexpunctatus in the subgeneric group <unk> which consisted of jumping spiders whose first pair of legs were the longest followed by the fourth pair later entomologists abandoned this classification which hentz himself admitted was somewhat artificial in 1888 with the recognition of zygoballus as an independent genus american arachnologists george and elizabeth peckham renamed the spider zygoballus sexpunctatus specimens of z sexpunctatus are housed at the museum of comparative zoology the british museum the milwaukee public museum the american museum of natural history and the muséum national d 'histoire naturelle no type specimens are known
the genus zygoballus contains approximately twenty species distributed from the united states to argentina zygoballus is classified in the subfamily <unk> of the family salticidae ( jumping spiders )

= = description = =

according to arachnologist b j <unk> adult females are 3 @@ 5 to 4 @@ 5 mm in body length while males are 3 to 3 @@ 5 mm the peckhams ' earlier description however gives a length of 3 mm for females and 3 to 4 @@ 5 mm for males
the cephalothorax of z sexpunctatus is bronze to black in color like all zygoballus spiders the cephalothorax is box @@ like in shape being widest at the posterior lateral eyes numerous white or pale blue scales cover the clypeus ( face ) and chelicerae this covering extends around the sides of the carapace ending beyond the posterior median eyes in males the labium is two @@ fifths as long as the maxillae and as wide as it is long the chelicerae of males are greatly enlarged and obliquely oriented with each chelicera having a prominent inner tooth and a long curved fang
the legs are reddish brown or sometimes yellowish with the femora of the anterior ( first ) pair being darker and enlarged especially in the male the anterior legs have three pairs of long spines on the ventral surface of the tibia and two pairs of spines on the metatarsus the peckhams give the following measurements for the lengths of the legs of a male specimen starting with the anterior pair 3 @@ 7 mm 2 @@ 2 mm 2 mm 3 mm in females the fourth pair of legs are the longest the pedipalp in the male has a single tibial apophysis which tapers gradually
the abdomen is bronze to black with a white basal band and two white transverse bands the transverse bands are often broken to form six spots some or all of these spots may be lacking however
zygoballus sexpunctatus is similar in appearance to zygoballus rufipes with whom its range overlaps the male can be distinguished from z rufipes by the large spot of white scales at the beginning of the thoracic slope ( which is lacking in z rufipes ) and by the longitudinal division present on the bulb of the pedipalp ( z rufipes has a transverse division ) the female can best be distinguished by the form of the <unk> ( the external genital structure )

= = habitat and distribution = =

the range of the species extends from new jersey to florida and west to texas although it is most commonly found in the southern states hentz collected his original specimen in north carolina in 1909 the peckhams reported that the species had been collected from north carolina florida texas louisiana and mississippi a seven @@ year survey of spider species in western mississippi reported the abundance of z sexpunctatus as uncommon a one @@ year survey in alachua county florida reported the species as rare
specimens have been collected from several ecosystems including old fields river terrace forests flatwoods florida sand pine scrub slash pine forests appalachian grass balds and rice fields robert and betty barnes reported the species as occurring in <unk> fields throughout the southeastern piedmont the species is typically found in the herb stratum ( among grasses and other short plants ) and may be collected with a sweep net

= = behavior = =

male zygoballus sexpunctatus spiders are known to exhibit elaborate courtship displays as a male approaches a female it will typically raise and spread its first pair of legs and vibrate its abdomen if the female is receptive it will often vibrate its abdomen as well the specific patterns of courtship behavior however vary between individuals
z sexpunctatus males exhibit ritualized agonistic behavior when encountering other males of the same species this behavior may include many of the same elements as courtship such as raising and spreading the first pair of legs and vibrating the abdomen during agonistic display males will also extend their pedipalps and fangs lethal attacks between males appear to be rare however

in 2013 the notebook alluded to by kilmer 's son was uncovered by journalist and kilmer researcher alex <unk> in georgetown university 's lauinger library in a collection of family papers donated to the university by kilmer 's granddaughter miriam kilmer the mrs henry mills alden to whom the poem was dedicated was ada foster murray alden ( 1866 1936 ) the mother of kilmer 's wife aline murray kilmer ( 1888 1941 ) alden a writer had married harper 's magazine editor henry mills alden in 1900

= = = kilmer 's inspiration = = =

kilmer 's poetry was influenced by his strong religious faith and dedication to the natural beauty of the world

although several communities across the united states claim to have inspired trees nothing can be established specifically regarding kilmer 's inspiration except that he wrote the poem while residing in mahwah both kilmer 's widow aline and his son kenton refuted these claims in their correspondence with researchers and by kenton in his memoir kenton wrote to university of notre dame researcher dorothy colson

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

according to kenton kilmer the upstairs room in which the poem was written looked down the hill over the family 's well @@ wooded lawn that contained trees of many kinds from mature trees to thin saplings oaks maples black and white birches and i do not know what else a published interview with joyce kilmer in 1915 mentioned the poet 's large woodpile at the family 's mahwah home

while kilmer might be widely known for his affection for trees his affection was certainly not sentimental the most distinguished feature of kilmer 's property was a colossal woodpile outside his home the house stood in the middle of a forest and what lawn it possessed was obtained only after kilmer had spent months of weekend toil in chopping down trees pulling up stumps and splitting logs kilmer 's neighbors had difficulty in believing that a man who could do that could also be a poet

= = <unk> and analysis = =

trees is a poem of twelve lines in strict iambic tetrameter all but one of the lines has the full eight syllables of iambic tetrameter the eleventh or penultimate line begins on the stressed syllable of the iambic foot and drops the unstressed syllable an acephalous ( or headless ) catalectic line that results in a truncated seven @@ syllable iambic tetrameter line making the meter of a line catalectic can change the feeling of the poem and is often used to achieve a certain effect as a way of changing tone or announcing a conclusion the poem 's rhyme scheme is rhyming couplets rendered aa <unk> cc <unk> ee aa

despite its deceptive simplicity in rhyme and meter trees is notable for its use of personification and anthropomorphic imagery the tree of the poem which kilmer depicts as female is depicted as pressing its mouth to the earth 's breast looking at god and raising its leafy arms to pray the tree of the poem also has human physical attributes it has a hungry mouth arms hair ( in which robins nest ) and a bosom

rutgers @@ newark english professor and poet rachel hadas described the poem as being rather slight although it is free of irony and self consciousness except that little reference to fools like me at the end which i find kind of charming scholar mark royden winchell points out that kilmer 's depiction of the tree indicates the possibility that he had several different people in mind because of the variety of anthropomorphic descriptions winchell posits that if the tree described were to be a single human being it would be an anatomically deformed one

in the second stanza the tree is a sucking babe drawing nourishment from mother earth in the third it is a supplicant reaching its leafy arms to the sky in prayer in the fourth stanza the tree is a girl with jewels ( a nest of robins ) in her hair and in the fifth it is a chaste woman living alone with nature and with god there is no warrant in the poem to say that it is different trees that remind the poet of these different types of people

however winchell observes that this series of fanciful analogies could be presented in any order without damaging the overall structure of his poem

= = publication and reception = =

= = = publication = = =

trees was first published in the august 1913 issue of poetry a magazine of verse the magazine which had begun publishing the year before in chicago illinois quickly became the principal organ for modern poetry of the english @@ speaking world publishing the early works of poets who became the major influences on the development of twentieth @@ century literature ( including ts eliot ezra pound hd wallace stevens robert frost and edna st vincent millay ) poetry paid kilmer six dollars to print the poem which was immediately successful the following year kilmer included trees in his collection trees and other poems published by the george h doran company

joyce kilmer 's reputation as a poet is staked largely on the widespread popularity of this one poem trees was liked immediately on first publication in poetry a magazine of verse when trees and other poems was published the following year the review in poetry focused on the nursery rhyme directness and simplicity of the poems finding a particular childlike naivety in trees which gave it an unusual haunting poignancy however the same review criticized the rest of the book stating much of the verse in this volume is very slight indeed

despite the enduring popular appeal of trees most of joyce kilmer 's works are largely unknown and have fallen into obscurity a select few of his poems including trees are published frequently in anthologies trees began appearing in anthologies shortly after kilmer 's 1918 death the first inclusion being louis untermeyer 's modern american poetry ( 1919 ) journalist and author mark forsyth ranks the first two lines of trees as 26th out of 50 lines in an assessment of the most quoted lines of poetry as measured by google hits

= = = popular appeal = = =

with trees kilmer was said to have rediscovered simplicity and the simplicity of its message and delivery is a source of its appeal in 1962 english professor barbara <unk> recounted that her undergraduate students considered the poem as one of the finest poems ever written or at least a very good one even after its technical flaws were discussed because of its simple message and that it paints such lovely pictures the students pointed to how true the poem is and it appealed to both her students ' romantic attitude towards nature and their appreciation of life nature solace and beauty because of its message that the works of god completely overshadow our own feeble attempts at creation considering this sentiment the enduring popularity of trees is evinced by its association with annual arbor day observances and the planting of memorial trees as well as the several parks named in honor of kilmer including the joyce kilmer @@ slickrock wilderness and joyce kilmer memorial forest tracts within the nantahala national forest in graham county north carolina

trees has been described by literary critic guy davenport as the one poem known by practically everybody according to journalist rick hampson trees was memorized and recited by generations of students it comforted troops in the trenches of world war i it was set to music and set in stone declaimed in opera houses and vaudeville theaters intoned at ceremonies each april on arbor day according to robert holliday kilmer 's friend and editor trees speaks with authentic song to the simplest of hearts holliday added that this exquisite title poem now so universally known made his reputation more than all the rest he had written put together and was made for immediate widespread popularity

= = = critical reception = = =

several critics including both kilmer 's contemporaries and modern scholars have disparaged kilmer 's work as being too religious simple overly sentimental and suggested that his style was far too traditional even archaic poet conrad aiken a contemporary of kilmer lambasted his work as being unoriginal merely imitative with a sentimental bias and trotting out of the same faint passions the same old heartbreaks and love songs ghostly distillations of fragrances all too familiar aiken characterized kilmer as a dabbler in the pretty and sweet and pale @@ mouthed clingers to the artificial and archaic

kilmer is considered among the last of the romantic era poets because his verse is conservative and traditional in style and does not break any of the formal rules of poetics a style often criticized today for being too sentimental to be taken seriously the entire corpus of kilmer 's work was produced between 1909 and 1918 when romanticism and sentimental lyric poetry fell out of favor and modernism took root especially with the influence of the lost generation in the years after kilmer 's death poetry went in drastically different directions as is seen in the work of t s eliot and ezra pound and academic criticism grew with it to eschew the more sentimental and straightforward verse

the poem was criticized by cleanth brooks and robert penn warren in their textbook understanding poetry first published in 1938 brooks and warren were two of the major contributors to the new criticism movement where its supporters opposed using literature as a surrogate for religion new criticism proponents analyzed poetry on its aesthetic formulae and excluded reader 's response the author 's intention historical and cultural contexts and moralistic bias from their analysis they attributed the popularity of trees largely to its religious appeal and believed it was a stock response that has nothing to do as such with poetry adding

it praises god and appeals to a religious sentiment therefore people who do not stop to look at the poem itself or to study the images in the poem and think about what the poem really says are inclined to accept the poem because of the pious sentiment the <unk> little pictures ( which in themselves appeal to stock responses ) and the mechanical rhythm

literary critic mark royden winchell believed that brooks and warren 's criticism of kilmer 's poem was chiefly to demonstrate that it is sometimes possible to learn as much about poetry from bad poems as from good ones

= = <unk> claims regarding inspiration = =

due to the enduring popular appeal of trees several local communities and organizations across the united states have staked their claim to the genesis of the poem while the accounts of family members and of documents firmly establish mahwah being the place where kilmer wrote the poem several towns throughout the country have claimed that kilmer wrote trees while staying there or that a specific tree in their town inspired kilmer 's writing local tradition in <unk> new hampshire asserts without proof that kilmer wrote the poem while summering in the town montague massachusetts claims that either a sprawling maple dominated the grounds near a hospital where kilmer once was treated or a spreading maple in the yard of an old mansion inspired the poem

in new brunswick new jersey kilmer 's hometown the claim involved a large white oak on the cook college campus ( now the school of environmental and biological sciences ) at rutgers university this tree the kilmer oak was estimated to be over 300 years old because it had been weakened by age and disease the kilmer oak was removed in 1963 and in reporting by the new york times and other newspapers the local tradition was repeated with the claim that rutgers said it could not prove that kilmer had been inspired by the oak currently saplings from acorns of the historic tree are being grown at the site throughout the middlesex county and central new jersey as well as in major <unk> around the united states the remains of the original kilmer oak are presently kept in storage at rutgers university

because of kilmer 's close identification with roman catholicism and his correspondence with many priests and theologians a tree located near a grotto dedicated to the virgin mary at the university of notre dame in south bend indiana has been asserted as the inspiration for the poem according to dorothy corson the claim was first made by a priest named henry kemper there are several accounts that kilmer visited the campus of notre dame to lecture and to visit friends but none of these accounts or occasions date before 1914

in his 1997 book of essays entitled the geography of the imagination american writer guy davenport suggests a different inspiration for kilmer 's poem

trees were favorite symbols for yeats frost and even the young pound but kilmer had been reading about trees in another context [ ] the movement to stop child labor and set up nursery schools in slums margaret mcmillan had the happy idea that a breath of fresh air and an intimate acquaintance with grass and trees were worth all the pencils and desks in the whole school system the english word for gymnasium equipment is ' apparatus ' and in her book labour and childhood ( 1907 ) you will find this sentence ' apparatus can be made by fools but only god can make a <unk>

it appears that davenport must have loosely and erroneously paraphrased the sentiments expressed by mcmillan as this exact quote does not appear in her text instead mcmillan is expressing the observation that several nineteenth @@ century writers including william rankin william morris and thomas carlyle opposed the effects of machinery on society and craftsmanship and thus eschewed machine @@ made items davenport 's observation likely was derived in some way from mcmillan 's examination and quotation of carlyle

he ( carlyle ) often makes comparisons between men and machines and even trees and machines greatly to the disadvantage of the latter for example ' o that we could displace the machine god and put a man god in his place ' and ' i find no similitude of life so true as this of a tree beautiful machine of the universe '

= = adaptations and parodies = =

= = = musical adaptations = = =

several of kilmer 's poems including trees were set to music and published in england by kilmer 's mother annie kilburn kilmer who was a writer and amateur composer the more popular musical setting of kilmer 's poem was composed in 1922 by american pianist and composer oscar rasbach this setting had been performed and recorded frequently in twentieth century including ernestine schumann @@ heink john charles thomas nelson eddy robert merrill perry como and paul robeson rasbach 's song appeared on popular network television shows including all in the family performed by the puppets wayne and wanda in the muppet show and as an animated feature segment featuring fred waring and the pennsylvanians performing the song in the 1948 animated film melody time the last of the short @@ film anthology features produced by walt disney

rasbach 's setting has also been lampooned most notably in the our gang short film arbor day ( 1936 ) directed by fred c <unk> in which alfalfa ( played by carl switzer ) sings the song in a whiny strained voice after a woodsman spare that tree dialogue with spanky ( george mcfarland ) sings trees film critic leonard maltin has called this the poem 's all @@ time worst rendition in his album caught in the act victor borge when playing requests responds to a member of the audience sorry i don 't know that ' doggie in the window ' i know one that comes pretty close to it and proceeds to play the rasbach setting of trees

dutch composer henk van der vliet included a setting of trees as the third in a set of five songs written in 1977 which included texts by poets christina rossetti percy bysshe shelley kilmer matthew prior and sir john suckling

= = = parodies = = =

because of the varied reception to kilmer 's poem and its simple rhyme and meter it has been the model for several parodies written by humorists and poets alike while keeping with kilmer 's iambic tetrameter rhythm and its couplet rhyme scheme and references to the original poem 's thematic material such parodies are often immediately recognizable as is seen in song of the open road written by poet and humorist ogden nash i think that i shall never see / a billboard lovely as a tree / indeed unless the billboards fall / i 'll never see a tree at all

a similar sentiment was expressed in a 1968 episode of the animated series wacky races titled the wrong lumber race where the villainous dick dastardly chops down a tree and uses it as a roadblock against the other racers declaring proudly i think that i shall never see / a roadblock lovely as a tree

further trappist monk poet and spiritual writer thomas merton used kilmer 's poem as a model for a parody called chee $ e with a dollar sign purposefully substituted for the letter s in which merton ridiculed the lucrative sale of homemade cheese by his monastery the abbey of <unk> in kentucky this poem was not published during merton 's lifetime merton often criticized the commodification of monastic life and business for a profit claiming that it affected the well @@ being of the spirit in his poem merton attributed his parody to joyce killer @@ diller

like kilmer merton was a graduate of columbia university and a member of its literary society the philolexian society which has hosted the annual joyce kilmer memorial bad poetry contest since 1986 trees is read at the conclusion of each year 's event

kilmer 's poem was recited in the 1980 film superman ii as well as its 2006 director 's cut in the scene villain lex luthor ( played by gene hackman ) and others enter superman 's fortress of solitude and comes across a video of an elder ( john hollis ) from planet krypton reciting trees as an example of poetry from earth literature luthor ridicules the poem

= zygoballus sexpunctatus =

zygoballus sexpunctatus is a species of jumping spider which occurs in the southeastern united states where it can be found in a variety of grassy habitats adult spiders measure between 3 and 4 @@ 5 mm in length the cephalothorax and abdomen are bronze to black in color with reddish brown or yellowish legs the male has distinctive enlarged chelicerae ( the mouthparts used for grasping prey ) and front femora ( the third and typically largest leg segments ) like many jumping spiders z sexpunctatus males exhibit ritualized courtship and agonistic behavior

= = etymology = =

the specific name is derived from the latin sex meaning six and <unk> meaning spot this is a reference to the six spots typically occurring on the abdomen of the male

= = history and taxonomy = =

the species was first described by entomologist nicholas marcellus hentz in 1845 in the boston journal of natural history hentz named the species attus sexpunctatus and described it as follows

black cephalothorax with the two posterior eyes near the base which is wide and suddenly inclined at nearly a right angle with the upper surface <unk> with a strong inner tooth and a long curved fang abdomen with six dots and a line in front white feet 1 4 2 3 first pair with enlarged thighs and quite long

hentz classified a sexpunctatus in the subgeneric group <unk> which consisted of jumping spiders whose first pair of legs were the longest followed by the fourth pair later entomologists abandoned this classification which hentz himself admitted was somewhat artificial in 1888 with the recognition of zygoballus as an independent genus american arachnologists george and elizabeth peckham renamed the spider zygoballus sexpunctatus specimens of z sexpunctatus are housed at the museum of comparative zoology the british museum the milwaukee public museum the american museum of natural history and the muséum national d 'histoire naturelle no type specimens are known

the genus zygoballus contains approximately twenty species distributed from the united states to argentina zygoballus is classified in the subfamily <unk> of the family salticidae ( jumping spiders )

= = description = =

according to arachnologist b j <unk> adult females are 3 @@ 5 to 4 @@ 5 mm in body length while males are 3 to 3 @@ 5 mm the peckhams ' earlier description however gives a length of 3 mm for females and 3 to 4 @@ 5 mm for males

the cephalothorax of z sexpunctatus is bronze to black in color like all zygoballus spiders the cephalothorax is box @@ like in shape being widest at the posterior lateral eyes numerous white or pale blue scales cover the clypeus ( face ) and chelicerae this covering extends around the sides of the carapace ending beyond the posterior median eyes in males the labium is two @@ fifths as long as the maxillae and as wide as it is long the chelicerae of males are greatly enlarged and obliquely oriented with each chelicera having a prominent inner tooth and a long curved fang

the legs are reddish brown or sometimes yellowish with the femora of the anterior ( first ) pair being darker and enlarged especially in the male the anterior legs have three pairs of long spines on the ventral surface of the tibia and two pairs of spines on the metatarsus the peckhams give the following measurements for the lengths of the legs of a male specimen starting with the anterior pair 3 @@ 7 mm 2 @@ 2 mm 2 mm 3 mm in females the fourth pair of legs are the longest the pedipalp in the male has a single tibial apophysis which tapers gradually

the abdomen is bronze to black with a white basal band and two white transverse bands the transverse bands are often broken to form six spots some or all of these spots may be lacking however

zygoballus sexpunctatus is similar in appearance to zygoballus rufipes with whom its range overlaps the male can be distinguished from z rufipes by the large spot of white scales at the beginning of the thoracic slope ( which is lacking in z rufipes ) and by the longitudinal division present on the bulb of the pedipalp ( z rufipes has a transverse division ) the female can best be distinguished by the form of the <unk> ( the external genital structure )

= = habitat and distribution = =

the range of the species extends from new jersey to florida and west to texas although it is most commonly found in the southern states hentz collected his original specimen in north carolina in 1909 the peckhams reported that the species had been collected from north carolina florida texas louisiana and mississippi a seven @@ year survey of spider species in western mississippi reported the abundance of z sexpunctatus as uncommon a one @@ year survey in alachua county florida reported the species as rare

specimens have been collected from several ecosystems including old fields river terrace forests flatwoods florida sand pine scrub slash pine forests appalachian grass balds and rice fields robert and betty barnes reported the species as occurring in <unk> fields throughout the southeastern piedmont the species is typically found in the herb stratum ( among grasses and other short plants ) and may be collected with a sweep net

= = behavior = =

male zygoballus sexpunctatus spiders are known to exhibit elaborate courtship displays as a male approaches a female it will typically raise and spread its first pair of legs and vibrate its abdomen if the female is receptive it will often vibrate its abdomen as well the specific patterns of courtship behavior however vary between individuals

z sexpunctatus males exhibit ritualized agonistic behavior when encountering other males of the same species this behavior may include many of the same elements as courtship such as raising and spreading the first pair of legs and vibrating the abdomen during agonistic display males will also extend their pedipalps and fangs lethal attacks between males appear to be rare however