---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They…"
description: "\"Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They will not bear a body on their limbs.\" — Alice Dunbar Nelson"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_bears_willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will_1260169.png"
---

#  Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They will not bear a body…

![“Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They will not bear a body on their limbs.” quote by Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_bears_willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will_1260169.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_bears_willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will_1260169.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_bears_willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will_1260169.png)

> “Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They will not bear a body on their limbs.”

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Willow trees symbolize gentle protection, refusing to bear the weight of death on their branches.

**In simple terms:** Willows protect gently, avoiding death.

Key Takeaway

Embrace gentle protection.

Themes

nature protection spirituality

Mood

calm hopeful

Type

poetic spiritual

When to use this quote

- grief counseling
- environmental art
- spiritual rituals

Key Concepts

symbolism nature metaphor

Questions to Reflect On

- How do you find gentle strength in adversity?
- What symbols offer you protection?

A Different Perspective

May overlook active resistance to hardship.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Bears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/) [Body](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/body/) [Dear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dear/) [Dear god](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dear-god/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Limbs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/limbs/) [Murder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murder/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [Tree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tree/) [Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees/) [Trees Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trees-kind-1035385/) [Willow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willow/) [Willow trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willow-trees/)

## Related quotes

> [It were a blessed sight to see That child become a willow tree, His brother trees among. He'd be four times as tall as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-maria-fanshawe/it-were-a-blessed-sight-to-see-that-child-become-a-willow-tree-his/)

[Catherine Maria Fanshawe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-maria-fanshawe/)

> [No matter how far back you cut a willow tree, it will never really die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-brashares/no-matter-how-far-back-you-cut-a-willow-tree-it-will-never-really-die/)

[Ann Brashares](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-brashares/)

> [A framed photo on a dusty bookshelf caught his attention; he moved closer and picked it up silently. A small girl with long blond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-framed-photo-on-a-dusty-bookshelf-caught-his-attention-he-moved/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“willow trees, willow trees they remind me of Desdemona I'm so damned literary and at the same time the waters rushing past remind me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-o-hara/willow-trees-willow-trees-they-remind-me-of-desdemona-i-m-so-damned/)

[Frank O'Hara](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-o-hara/)

> [All a green willow, willow, All a green willow is my garland.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-heywood/all-a-green-willow-willow-all-a-green-willow-is-my-garland/)

[John Heywood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-heywood/)

> [What a pity every child couldn't learn to read under a willow tree...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-george-speare/what-a-pity-every-child-couldn-t-learn-to-read-under-a-willow-tree/)

[Elizabeth George Speare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-george-speare/)

> [The willow tree plays the water like a harp.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ram-n-g-mez-de-la-serna/the-willow-tree-plays-the-water-like-a-harp/)

[Ramon Gomez de la Serna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ram-n-g-mez-de-la-serna/)

> [“Willow trees dipped their bare branches into pond water like girls testing the temperature with their toes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-berg/willow-trees-dipped-their-bare-branches-into-pond-water-like-girls/)

[Elizabeth Berg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-berg/)

> ['The Lorax,'...it's a mythical, woodland creature, right, who's for saving trees. He speaks for the trees because no one else can. Kind of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/the-lorax-it-s-a-mythical-woodland-creature-right-who-s-for-saving/)

[Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/)

> [Nature is so delightful and abundant in its variations that among trees of the same kind there would not be found one which nearly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-da-vinci/nature-is-so-delightful-and-abundant-in-its-variations-that-among/)

[Leonardo da Vinci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-da-vinci/)

> [Have you ever been through a painful season in life and wished for something new, something fresh, or even something healing to come along?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-kirkpatrick/have-you-ever-been-through-a-painful-season-in-life-and-wished-for/)

[Jane Kirkpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-kirkpatrick/)

> [Just Me, Just Me Sweet Marie, she loves just me (She also loves Maurice McGhee). No she don't, she loves just me (She also…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shel-silverstein/just-me-just-me-sweet-marie-she-loves-just-me-she-also-loves-maurice/)

[Shel Silverstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shel-silverstein/)

> [As soon as you think of fishing you think of things that don't belong to the modern world. The very idea of sitting all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/as-soon-as-you-think-of-fishing-you-think-of-things-that-don-t-belong/)

[George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/)

> [I like to go to places with my high-fashion things where there are a lot of cameras. So I can just go there and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willow-smith/i-like-to-go-to-places-with-my-high-fashion-things-where-there-are-a/)

[Willow Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willow-smith/)

> [Bare Foot Folk and is full of really interesting songs, Ange Hardy takes folk tales and creates new folk songs that sound traditional around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-harding/bare-foot-folk-and-is-full-of-really-interesting-songs-ange-hardy/)

[Mike Harding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-harding/)

## More by Alice Dunbar Nelson

> [I am profoundly in the D's - discouraged, depressed, disheartened, disgusted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/i-am-profoundly-in-the-d-s-discouraged-depressed-disheartened/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [I had not thought of violets of late, The wild, shy kind that springs beneath you feet In wistful April days.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/i-had-not-thought-of-violets-of-late-the-wild-shy-kind-that-springs/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/it-s-punishment-to-be-compelled-to-do-what-one-doesn-t-wish/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [In every race, in every nation, and in every clime in every period of history there is always an eager-eyed group of youthful patriots…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/in-every-race-in-every-nation-and-in-every-clime-in-every-period-of/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [The rainbow is elusive, and its colors but the illumination of tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/the-rainbow-is-elusive-and-its-colors-but-the-illumination-of-tears/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [Picturesqueness is a lost art. We may expect at anytime to hear that a collar ad is blazing its electric lights atop of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/picturesqueness-is-a-lost-art-we-may-expect-at-anytime-to-hear-that-a/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [Nothing will do me any good unless I learn to control this body of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/nothing-will-do-me-any-good-unless-i-learn-to-control-this-body-of/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [Blue. My God! I'm so blue that if I were a dog, I'd sit on my haunches and howl and howl and howl...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/blue-my-god-i-m-so-blue-that-if-i-were-a-dog-i-d-sit-on-my-haunches/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [Every new fad or fashion at once has its denouncers from the pulpit, platform, professor's chair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/every-new-fad-or-fashion-at-once-has-its-denouncers-from-the-pulpit/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

> [Didacticism is the death of art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/didacticism-is-the-death-of-art/)

[Alice Dunbar Nelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

[Explore all 11 Alice Dunbar Nelson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/)

## More Bears quotes

> [For not only every democracy, but certainly every republic, bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-not-only-every-democracy-but-certainly-every-republic-bears/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-ursu/she-d-read-once-that-if-you-ran-into-a-bear-in-the-woods-you-should/)

[Anne Ursu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-ursu/)

> [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/)

[Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/)

> [Television series are like the stock market. There's room for bears and bulls but no room for pigs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-newhart/television-series-are-like-the-stock-market-there-s-room-for-bears/)

[Bob Newhart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-newhart/)

> [The Germans are the most philosophic people in the world, and the greatest smokers: now I trace their philosophy to their smoking. Smoking has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-henry-borrow/the-germans-are-the-most-philosophic-people-in-the-world-and-the/)

[George Henry Borrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-henry-borrow/)

> [...Gratitude transforms the torment of memory of good things now gone into silent joy. One bears what was lovely in the past not as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/gratitude-transforms-the-torment-of-memory-of-good-things-now-gone/)

[Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/)

> [You've had a whole lot of experience, but everything is also radically new at each moment, and you have to bring a kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-houston/you-ve-had-a-whole-lot-of-experience-but-everything-is-also-radically/)

[Jean Houston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-houston/)

> [The rationale which accompanies that imposition of male authority euphemistically referred to as 'the battle of the sexes' bears a certain resemblance to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-millett/the-rationale-which-accompanies-that-imposition-of-male-authority/)

[Kate Millett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-millett/)

> [Pay no heed to the passing religious vogue. Go back to the grass roots. Open your hearts and search the Scriptures. Bear your cross,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/pay-no-heed-to-the-passing-religious-vogue-go-back-to-the-grass-roots/)

[Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/)

> [I want you to take a red-hot bath as hot as you can bear it, and just relax your nerves. You can read in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/i-want-you-to-take-a-red-hot-bath-as-hot-as-you-can-bear-it-and-just/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [He sank into the rocking chair, the same one in which Rebecca had sat during the early days of the house to give embroidery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/he-sank-into-the-rocking-chair-the-same-one-in-which-rebecca-had-sat/)

[Gabriel Garcia Marquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gabriel-garc-a-m-rquez/)

> [Some things in this world just ain't meant to be, not in the times we want 'em to, and the heart has to hold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mcbride/some-things-in-this-world-just-ain-t-meant-to-be-not-in-the-times-we/)

[James McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mcbride/)

> [And if anyone knows anything about anything," said Bear to himself, "it's Owl who knows something about something," he said, "or my name's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-if-anyone-knows-anything-about-anything-said-bear-to-himself-it-s/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I'm totally independent. I don't bear any responsibility to any system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/i-m-totally-independent-i-don-t-bear-any-responsibility-to-any-system/)

[Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/)

> [I'm supportive of women, absolutely, and it's so gratifying to have girls come up and say, 'I'm really inspired by your guitar playing.' I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/st-vincent/i-m-supportive-of-women-absolutely-and-it-s-so-gratifying-to-have/)

[St. Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/st-vincent/)

[Browse all 4,111 Bears quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bears/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They will not bear a body on their limbs.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Alice Dunbar Nelson"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will-not-bear-a-body-on-their/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Bears"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will-not-bear-a-body-on-their/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_bears_willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will_1260169.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_bears_willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will_1260169.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd5/alice-dunbar-nelson-40326_bears_willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will_1260169.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They will not bear a body on their limbs.” — Alice Dunbar Nelson",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Alice Dunbar Nelson",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-dunbar-nelson/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Willow trees are kind, Dear God....",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will-not-bear-a-body-on-their/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-dunbar-nelson/willow-trees-are-kind-dear-god-they-will-not-bear-a-body-on-their/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
