Loveliest of Trees Analysis

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.



Now of my threescore years and ten,

Twenty will not come again,

And take from seventy springs a score,

It only leaves me fifty more.



And since to look at things in bloom

Fifty springs are little room,

About the woodlands I will go

To see the cherry hung with snow.

.: :.

he is actually just 20!
he assumes he will live for 70 years.
20 will not come again, because it has passed.
he's saying even the 50 years he has left is perhaps not enough to take in the cherry trees.

| Posted on 2008-11-02 | by a guest

.: :.

The poet want to describe the beauty of the cherry tree that it is the beautiful scene to see a cherry tree hung with blooming flowers, covering itz branches. He thinks that the tree is in full bloom to welcome the spring and the coming Easter.
.. The poet is seventy and realise that he'll never be twenty again. He thinks that he started taking notice of the beauty of nature after the age of 20 b'caz he was not mature enough and never had time to think about the nature's beauty "And since to look at things in bloom".
...he says since 50 yrz he use to see and appreciate the beauty of the cherry tree but still he thinks it is a very small period of time to he wants to come back here to see the cherry tree hung with snow which is actually the flowers covering the tree and looking like snow..

| Posted on 2008-09-12 | by a guest

.: :.

the most telling and poignant feature of this poem is the last line..."to see the cherry hung with snow. Before this line the author only speaks of Spring and blossoms, and now this stark image, a cherry tree hung with snow, somehow speaks to our limited mortality, 50 years is indeed little time to see the beauties of the world. But what the hell do I know?

| Posted on 2008-05-07 | by a guest

.: :.

The slight irony of the poem appears when Houseman says "And since to look at things in bloom/fifty springs leaves little room." Fifty years is ordinarily thought of as a very very long time, and it would a lot of "room" to do most things in life. But the trees are so magnificent that even fifty years "leaves little room" to do them justice.

| Posted on 2008-04-01 | by a guest

.: twenty :.

the poet thinks of his lifespan as seventy years, twenty will not come again since he is twenty. he realizes that seeing only the cherry tree in bloom shortens his life, he will extend it by seeing the cherry tree laden with snow. he will learn to appreciate the beauty of all the seasons in all he is given.

| Posted on 2008-03-10 | by a guest

.: :.

I thought that the allusion to Easter was the fact that his way of thinking was being "reborn". He is realizing that he has little time left to live so he needs to improve his take on life and what God has given him. This is why he's going to spend his remaining fifty years appreciating nature's beauty.

| Posted on 2008-02-14 | by a guest

.: vincent :.

The poem takes place in the spring. The "Wearing white for Eastertide" are the cherry trees have blossomed. The writer is marveling at the cherry blossoms and comes to think about life. Every year the trees blossom in the spring. He figures out that of his lifespan (the threescore and ten) he has lived away twenty that "will not come again". By subtraction he figures out that he has about 50 more years to live. Since things in bloom do not stay in bloom very long fifty springs is actually ver

| Posted on 2008-02-02 | by a guest

.: GUMBY's ANALYSIS :.

The poem takes place in the spring. The "Wearing white for Eastertide" are the cherry trees have blossomed. The writer is marveling at the cherry blossoms and comes to think about life. Every year the trees blossom in the spring. He figures out that of his lifespan (the threescore and ten) he has lived away twenty that "will not come again". By subtraction he figures out that he has about 50 more years to live. Since things in bloom do not stay in bloom very long fifty springs is actually ver

| Posted on 2007-12-12 | by a guest

.: :.

Houseman observes the cherry tree at its most beautiful, in spring, and in full bloom. But then he is reminded of Easter, and thus of death. He calculates his remaining years, and realises that life is far too precious to savour only the best things in life. He knows that from now on he must look for the special beauty and meaning that exists in all seasons, in all things, in every situation, and in everybody.

J. A . Mann

| Posted on 2007-08-10 | by a guest

.: My analysis :.

In his poem he writes “Loveliest of trees, the cherry now Is hung with bloom along the bough, And stands about the woodland ride Wearing white for Eastertide.” The cherry wearing white signifies the nearness of death (Stevenson 184). Housman wants us to see that death is inevitable in this young man’s life and that he starting to understand it. However Easter is not expressed as suffering, but brief beauty then sudden death (Stevenson 200). I believe Housman was trying to create an image of enjoying life before death. Since the 1st stanza of the poem recognizes the color of the cherry and the significance of what Easter represents, we can find it obvious that the second stanza is based on his recognition of his own destiny to die. The speaker in the poem is described to have 50 years left, when he says “Now of my threescore years and ten, twenty will not come again, And take from seventy springs a score, It only leaves me fifty more.”, and he has anxiety over the loss of life. The young man is frustrated when he knows his youth won’t come again and Housman made sure that we all realized this when reading the poem. The speaker continues to express to us his sadness about not having as much time as he would like in life. However the speaker makes sure that we know that he will continually return to see the “cherry hung with snow” as long his life permits.

| Posted on 2007-03-26 | by a guest

.: analysis of the loveliest :.

I think that Houseman uses the cherry to represent nature,(the earth)... its a fresh and new beginning from the sorrows that he has encountered through the cold sad winter. The trees being dressed in white for Eastertide....shows that spring is the welcoming of Christ through easter.... Its showning that nature is welcoming a new start***he figures he will live to about 70 and he feels he only has 50 more considering hes 20 at the time and he wants you to know that you have to stop and realize the beauty god has put around you..... that people take advantage of it and dont realize what is truly important. and even when the beautifull spring is over he will still watch the trees in the winter. that the earth(cherry) will still have its beauty when most of nature is dead and covered in snow***(winter)It shows aging and that life goes on..... yeah life is long but wat is life if you dont realize anyting that has been put on this earth for you***thankssss

| Posted on 2007-03-25 | by a guest

.: :.

I would think that it isn't just him watching the spring trees, watching their flower bloom and enjoying them. Rather, I think it's the end of his watching of anything beautiful, or his life I suppose. Spring is merely the begining, as is the age twenty, but he talks about the fifty more he hopes to see. That he'll sit there through winter and watch the trees. Watching his life pass before him for something that he loves.
It's strangely not so happy or hopeful to me.

| Posted on 2007-03-07 | by a guest

.: arithmetic... :.

I think he's saying that, of the threescore and ten (or seventy) years allotted to him (they say that in the bible, I think), twenty (the age) "will not come again"--he's never going to be twenty years old again. So...do some arithmetic, take twenty from seventy, and he's only got fifty more years to look at the beautiful trees.
And since that's not enough time, he's not going to just look at trees at easter, he's going to look at them all year round--even when it's cold and snowy out.

| Posted on 2006-04-08 | by Approved Guest

.: :.

in the first para he means tht the cherry tree is the loveliest tree he has ever seen,it's full of flowers hung on the branch and it's flowers are so white it looks like as if he's dressed for easter.
in the second para he thinks tht he wud only live for 70 yrs ,20 have gone meaning he's 20 yrs old and only 50 more springs are left.
in the third para he wants look at all the beautiful trees in bloom so according to him 50 springs are a short time.he goes about the woodlands and he thinks when he looks at the cherry tree as if it is hung with snow but it is not it looks like cuz the flowers are tht white .hung with snow is the poetic device here.

| Posted on 2006-01-04 | by Approved Guest

.: :.

why does the author have to be twenty? Why couldn't he be seventy and realizing he'll never be twenty again? He then says that even if he were 20 years younger he wouldn't have enough time to see all the beauty that is life; the mention of "snow" is a symbol for death juxtaposed with life since it is spring which typically symbolizes life. It's spring in the poem, which makes the author realize that he is well past the spring of his own life and will likely die soon.


| Posted on 2005-05-13 | by Approved Guest

.: :.

What the hell? I guess he's twenty years old, and realizes that he wil only see 50 more springs, which seems shorter to him than fifty years of life. The reference too easter hints at the springing up of new life, which directly contradicts the tone of the poem, as teh author sees his life as winding down. He will search, nonetheless to discover trees that exist in this easter state of existance, so that he can continue to stay young throughout his remaining years.

| Posted on 2005-03-23 | by Approved Guest