 " Trees " has been described by literary critic Guy Davenport as " the one poem known by practically everybody . " According to journalist Rick Hampson , " Trees " was " <unk> 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 , <unk> in opera houses and vaudeville theaters , <unk> 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 . " 
