Editor's note
Ranking is generated by Storgy's classification model, which scores each poem's thematic depth on this subject relative to the rest of the corpus. The list is re-indexed weekly as new poems enter the public-domain corpus.
Best poems about — Storgy
Tree.
Twenty-five poems, ranked.
25 of the finest public-domain poems about tree, ranked by thematic depth. Scored by Storgy's classification model against the rest of the corpus, and re-indexed weekly as new works enter the canon.
The leading three
01
Birches
Robert Frost · 1915
“A man looks at birch trees that have been bent by ice storms, but he prefers to picture a lonely farm boy swinging on them as a child. That memory makes him lon…”
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02
Pear Tree
H. D. · 1916
“A speaker gazes up at a pear tree bursting with white blossoms, nearly overwhelmed by its sheer size and brightness against the sky. H. D. presents the tree as…”
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03
Chorus of Dryades
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“This brief choral piece is drawn from Longfellow's dramatic poem *Prometheus, or the Legend of Kezbeh*. The woodland nymphs, known as Dryads, see Prometheus com…”
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The complete index
- 04
Eliot's Oak
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
This poem is a sonnet directed to an ancient oak tree that once provided shade to John Eliot, a Puritan missionary from the 17th century who translated the Bible into the Massachus…
- 05
On Planting a Tree at Inveraray
James Russell Lowell
A man plants a tree and questions if that one act fulfills his duty in life. Lowell's response is affirmative: even after the planter has passed away and is forgotten, the tree con…
- 06
Poplar Field
William Cowper
A grove of poplar trees that the speaker cherished visiting has been cut down, and he comes back to find it missing. The absence of the trees reflects his own mortality — if the tr…
- 07
Six old willows: These much-loved trees afforded Lowell a
James Russell Lowell
This isn’t just a poem; it’s a prose note reflecting on six willow trees that were incredibly important to James Russell Lowell. He wrote about them in his poem *Under the Willows*…
- 08
The Birch-Tree
James Russell Lowell
Lowell's "The Birch-Tree" is a love poem dedicated to one tree. He observes it shimmer and whisper while the rest of the forest remains still, gradually recognizing that it reflect…
- 09
The Bottle Tree
Eugene Field
A baby is singing (or picturing themselves singing) about a whimsical place called Winkyway, where a "Bottle Tree" grows milk bottles like fruit, ensuring that no baby ever goes hu…
- 10
The Hemlock Tree
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A speaker likens a loyal hemlock tree to an unfaithful lover who is only present during happy moments but vanishes when difficulties arise. Following this, the speaker makes two mo…
- 11
The Maple
James Russell Lowell
A maple tree blooms softly in spring, but it reserves its brightest, fiery hues for autumn — and Lowell uses this to reflect on human life. Young people etch names into trees, unaw…
- 12
The Oak
James Russell Lowell
Lowell uses the oak tree to represent the ideal human character — grounded, patient, and dignified through all seasons and challenges. The poem shifts from praising the tree's impr…
- 13
The Pine Forest of the Cascine Near Pisa
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Shelley invites his dear friend, Jane Williams, to stroll with him in a pine forest close to Pisa on an unusually warm February day. The poem captures their walk — the stillness of…
- 14
To a Pine-Tree
James Russell Lowell
Lowell writes about a towering pine tree on Mount Katahdin in Maine, capturing its presence during storms, in tranquility, and throughout the changing seasons. This tree, with its…
- 15
Trees
Joyce Kilmer
Joyce Kilmer's "Trees" is a brief, rhyming poem that likens a tree to a living prayer, implying that the beauty and sanctity of nature surpass anything a human poet could create. E…
- 16
Under the October Maples
James Russell Lowell
A speaker strolls under the autumn maple trees, envisioning the red leaves drifting down like a royal carpet spread out for a cherished woman. The entire scene feels as if it was a…
- 17
Rhoecus
James Russell Lowell
Rhoecus is a young man who saves an ancient oak tree and is rewarded by the tree's spirit — a Dryad — who offers him her love, asking only that he meet her at sunset. He becomes di…
- 18
The Wood-Pile
Robert Frost · 1914
A man walks alone into a frozen swamp and comes across an old woodpile, left behind by the one who once cut and stacked it. The poem poses a quiet yet unsettling question: what kin…
- 19
Orchard
H. D. · 1916
A speaker is so struck by the beauty of a harvest-season orchard that she collapses to the ground and pleads with a god to intervene — the beauty feels nearly unbearable. She then…
- 20
Dust of Snow
Robert Frost · 1923
A crow shakes snow from a hemlock tree, and it lands on the speaker — that brief, unexpected moment is enough to lift a bad mood and save what seemed like a wasted day. It's a poem…
- 21
Come in
Robert Frost
A speaker stands at the edge of a dark wood at dusk, listening to a thrush singing deep within the trees, feeling an urge to step into the shadows — yet decides to remain outside.…
- 22
Druid wood: The Druids were the aged priests of the Celts, who
James Russell Lowell
This piece is a prose headnote by James Russell Lowell instead of a lyric poem — it clarifies the title "Druid Wood" by linking the ancient Celtic priests to their sacred oak fores…
- 23
Elm
Sylvia Plath
In "Elm," Sylvia Plath presents an ancient elm tree that talks directly to the reader about suffering, fear, and the frightening depths of the self. The tree symbolizes Plath's own…
- 24
Forest-crypt: The crypt of a church is the basement, filled
James Russell Lowell
This isn't just a poem; it's an explanatory note from James Russell Lowell that delves into the metaphor "forest-crypt." He compares the vaulted, root-and-branch interior of a fore…
- 25
From the Purgatorio of Dante, Canto 28, Lines 1-51
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Shelley translates the beginning of Canto 28 from Dante's *Purgatorio*, where the pilgrim enters a divine forest at the summit of Purgatory and encounters a mysterious, beautiful w…
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