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.
Originally published in A Shropshire Lad (1896) by A. E. Housman. Public domain.
Analysis
This poem invites readers into a gentle reflection on beauty, mortality, and the preciousness of fleeting seasons.
Background and Context
A. E. Housman published Loveliest of Trees as part of A Shropshire Lad, a collection known for its emotional clarity and its focus on youth, loss, and the countryside. Housman wrote at a time when industrial change and modern anxieties were reshaping English life. His poems often turn toward nature and memory as sources of stability, offering landscapes that feel timeless even as they echo with personal longing.
In this piece, Housman presents a speaker who has reached early adulthood and suddenly recognizes the brevity of human life. The pastoral setting becomes a place not only of beauty but also of contemplation, where the simple act of seeing blossoms invites a deeper understanding of the passing years.
The Beauty of the Cherry Tree
The poem begins with a vivid image of a cherry tree in bloom, dressed in white for Eastertide. This moment is both seasonal and symbolic. Spring represents rebirth, while the whiteness of the blossoms echoes purity and celebration. Yet beneath the loveliness of the scene lies a subtle emotional tension. Nature renews itself endlessly, but the viewer who observes it does not.
The first stanza establishes the tone of quiet admiration. The speaker’s attention to the tree’s adornment suggests a desire to pause and take in a moment that will not last. Even before time is mentioned directly, the fleeting quality of beauty is already present.
Mortality and the Arithmetic of Life
The poem’s emotional shift occurs in the second stanza, where the speaker introduces a simple but haunting calculation. Drawing from the biblical lifespan of threescore years and ten, he concludes that he may expect to live seventy years. Of those, twenty have already passed.
The clarity of this arithmetic gives the poem its force. The speaker does not express fear or regret. Instead, he acknowledges the loss of time as a truth that must be accepted. The idea that twenty springs will never return heightens the importance of those that remain. Housman frames mortality not as tragedy but as a lens through which beauty becomes more meaningful.
Choosing to See Beauty More Often
In the final stanza, the speaker arrives at a resolution. If fifty springs remain, then they are far too few. This recognition becomes a motivation to live with intention. Instead of retreating into sadness, the speaker chooses to go out into the woodlands, to see the cherry tree again and again while he still can.
The image of the blossoms described as snow deepens the theme of transience. Snow melts quickly, just as petals fall. By merging these images, Housman emphasizes that beauty is not lasting, and that its impermanence is precisely what gives it value. The speaker’s commitment to witness the tree becomes a quiet affirmation of life.
Form, Rhythm, and Tone
Housman’s use of iambic tetrameter gives the poem a steady, walking rhythm that mirrors the speaker’s imagined journey through the woods. The regular rhyme scheme contributes to the poem’s calm and contemplative tone. These stylistic choices reinforce the idea that reflection does not need to be grand or dramatic. Instead, clarity often arises from gentle observation and measured thought.
The simplicity of the diction also contributes to the poem’s accessibility. There are no ornate metaphors or complex allusions. The emotional weight comes from the balance between observation and introspection, from the speaker’s ability to connect the seasons of nature to the seasons of human life.
Themes of Transience and Appreciation
Much of A Shropshire Lad deals with the fragility of youth and the inevitability of loss. In Loveliest of Trees, however, Housman offers a more hopeful vision. The awareness of mortality becomes a reason to cherish the world more deeply. Instead of lamenting what time takes away, the speaker focuses on what time still allows.
The poem suggests that beauty is not diminished by its briefness. Rather, its impermanence awakens a desire to experience it fully. This is why the speaker resolves to see the blossoms as often as possible. Life is short, but the opportunity to appreciate it remains.
Why the Poem Endures
Readers continue to return to Loveliest of Trees because its message is universal. Everyone eventually feels the arithmetic of time, whether at twenty, forty, or seventy. The poem speaks to this experience with gentleness and honesty. It encourages an attentiveness to the natural world and to the moments that make life meaningful.
Housman transforms a simple springtime scene into a meditation on how to live. The poem endures because it offers a philosophy that is both humble and enduring: notice beauty while you can, return to it often, and let its presence remind you of the preciousness of your remaining days.