Oak Poetry

"Pig Under the Oak" by Ivan Krylov

By Roderick Cameron | June 19, 2026

This new entry in our series on Oak Poetry features a poem by Ivan Krylov, a Russian fabulist (writer of fables). Its moral is perhaps apt for current times, reminding us that we often enjoy the benefits of science, nature, and knowledge without respecting or protecting the roots that sustain them.

If you would like to propose a poem for inclusion in this series, please click here.

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“Die Eichbäume” by Friedrich Hölderlin

By Website Editor | April 22, 2026

A poem in which Hölderlin evokes the grandeur and solemn endurance of oaks as living symbols of nature’s strength and humanity’s search for harmony with the divine.

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“Gestutzte Eiche” by Hermann Hesse

By Website Editor | December 18, 2025

A heavily pruned oak as an image of endurance, renewal, and the stubborn will to keep growing despite hardship

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"The Oak" by Alfred Tennyson

By Website Editor | October 29, 2025

A human life and an oak through the seasons

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"La quercia caduta" by Giovanni Pascoli

By Roderick Cameron | June 28, 2025

A meditation on a fallen oak

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"Sonnet for Quercus rugosa" by T.A. Penwood

By Website Editor | April 1, 2025

A poem by a reclusive British-Mexican poet

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Extract from "Oak" by Katharine Towers

By Website Editor | December 20, 2024

An extract from Oak, a book by British poet Katharine Towers

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"A um carvalho" by Miguel Torga

By Website Editor | October 25, 2024

A Quercus faginea known as "carvalho da Pedreira" on the riverbanks of Nabão, Pedreira, Centro, Portugal © Jorge A.Gonçalves, source: monumentaltrees.com

This new entry in our series on Oak Poetry was proposed by Hugo Ribeiro, IOS member from Portugal.

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"Las Encinas" by Antonio Machado

By Website Editor | June 28, 2024

A new entry in our series on Oak Poetry, this poem by Antonio Machado describes the holm oaks of his native Spain (Quercus rotundifolia and Q. ilex). The common name in Spanish for these trees is encina, which derives from the Latin word ilex, and which originally referred to these oaks, not to hollies.

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A Haiku by Matsuo Bashō

By Website Editor | April 15, 2024

Continuing our series of posts of poems that feature oaks: a haiku by the legendary Japanese poet Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694).

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