16-Loveliest-of-Trees.doc

Loveliest of Trees
By A. E. Housman

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.

1.1 Introduction
Alfred Edward Housman was an English scholar and celebrated poet whose lyrics express a Romantic pessimism in a spare, simple style. Alfred Edward Housman had written more than 200 poem, and the most famous one is A Shropshire Lad which was written in 1896. When he was about 20 years old, he wrote Loveliest of Trees.

1.2 Parse the poem
With the bloom hung along the bough, the cherry trees are the most lovely now. It stands either sides of the woodland, wearing white clothes to welcome te Eastertide. If I can only live seventy years, twenty years won’t come back again. It only leaves me fifty more, as a score have been taken from seventy springs. Fifty years are really a short time to enjoy this beautiful bloom. I will go around the woodland to see the cherry hung with the snow.

II. Form
2.1 Meter, rhyme scheme, stress
This poem is a heroic couplet,which the rhyme scheme is aabb ccdd eeff. Every line has 8 meters except the lines 6, 7, 10. Line 6 and 10 have 7 meters while line 7 has 9 meters.

2.2 Special characteristics
Alfred Edward Houseman himself loved the cherry bloom so much and fully expressed himself. The writer personated the cherry bloom. He turned such flowers as the person who was welcoming the Eastertide, with white cloth and standing along the both side. The tree was vivid to our readers after the using of personification. We are dying to see such charming flower.
III. Content:
3.1 Theme
The theme of Loveliest of Trees is the love to the cherry tree and seizing the day. The poet firstly described the beauty of the cherry with the white bloom, using the personification. And then expressed his love to the tree. He thought that his left life was not enough to appreciate the cherry tree, so he wanted to absorb the beauty as much as he could in whatever short time he has.

3.2 Evaluation
Firstly, this poem is wonderful in describing the cherry tree and the bloom, which showed us a beautiful scenery. Then we can see and feel the love that the poet expressed to the tree. No matter how tightly one grasps or seizes the day, one cannot add one hour to a day. But the poet revealed a way that he can actually double his enjoyment of beauty. It shows us that our life is limited, so we had better enjoy the beautiful things during our lifetime.