--- title: Viral Shel Silverstein Giving Tree Poem on Cut Down Tree description: After being cut down to a stump, a poetic soul inscribed Shel Silverstein's famous 'Giving Tree' verse on the remains of a former tree. canonical: https://time.com/4701149/giving-tree-stump/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-03-14T19:16:35.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:41:53.732Z og:title: This Real-Life 'Giving Tree' Stump Gives All the Feels og:description: A poetic soul inscribed Shel Silverstein's words on a newly-hewn stump. og:url: https://time.com/4701149/giving-tree-stump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Real-Life 'Giving Tree' Stump Gives All the Feels twitter:description: A poetic soul inscribed Shel Silverstein's words on a newly-hewn stump. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # People Have a Lot of Feelings About This Viral Real-Life _Giving Tree_ That Got Cut Down  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 14, 2017 7:16 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Mar 14, 2017 7:16 PM UTC A poetic soul has given new life to a freshly-chopped tree stump in Oakland, CA, according to a popular photo that popped up on Reddit and has elicited thousands of comments. Writer [Shel Silverstein](http://time.com/3967783/lifetime-book-list/item/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein/)‘s thoughtful 1964 children’s book [_The Giving Tree_](http://time.com/3422868/40-classic-childrens-books-even-adults-love/item/1-the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein/)explores the poignant relationship between a selfless, sentient arboreal being that provides and provides and the boy that takes all of its gifts during the many stages of his life. Someone chose to inscribe the newly-hewn stump with the final lines of [that elegiac poem](http://time.com/3967783/lifetime-book-list/item/the-giving-tree-by-shel-silverstein/), in a tender tribute. --- > “” --- As the _New York Times’_ [California Today](http://www.nytimes.com/newsletters/2017/03/14/california-today?nlid=58278130) email newsletter points out, the tree was uncut as early as a week ago. How and why it was chopped remains something of a mystery; a spokesperson for Oakland’s public works department could not provide further information on the chair-like new life of the stump. But Redditors have taken up the poetic lament for the departed tree, sharing personal stories of grief, loss, and remembrance of the Silverstein story’s effect on their youth. Viral Shel Silverstein Giving Tree Poem on Cut Down Tree ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4701149/giving-tree-stump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4701149/giving-tree-stump/"},"headline":"People Have a Lot of Feelings About This Viral Real-Life Giving Tree That Got Cut Down","datePublished":"2017-03-14T19:16:35.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:41:53.732Z","description":"A poetic soul inscribed Shel Silverstein's words on a newly-hewn stump.","url":"https://time.com/4701149/giving-tree-stump/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral","Poetry"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4701149/giving-tree-stump/","name":"People Have a Lot of Feelings About This Viral Real-Life Giving Tree That Got Cut Down"}}]}] ```