LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now... - A.E Housman?

Question

I need help understanding this please!

THE POEM:
http://www.bartleby.com/123/2.html......

I have to explain what it means. I understand the first stanza about it saying that the cherry trees is blossomed with cherry flowers along the limbs and it stands out when one is riding wearing white for Spring (Eastertide.)

But I don't understand the rest!

1.) How old is the person that the poem is talking about? (2nd Stanza. - I THINK he's 70?)

2.) What does, "To see the cherry hung with snow." mean?
Because isn't it impossible because they cannot grow during winter? (the snow.) (3rd Stanza)

I really need help with this. =\
Thanks in advance!


THANKS! <33

Answer 1

Although the poem’s theme can be understood as carpe diem, meaning that the speaker is urging himself to get out and enjoy the beauty of the cherry blossoms while he can, the poem actually goes beyond the limitation of the philosophy of merely “seizing the day.”

No matter how tightly one grasps or “seizes” the day, that day will still vanish, because one cannot add one hour to a day’s length of time. But this speaker reveals a way that he can actually double his enjoyment of beauty.

First Stanza
In the first stanza, the speaker describes a beautiful scene that he is obviously enjoying as he speaks. He is riding through a wooded area and observes that the beauty of the blossoms on the cherry trees makes them the “Loveliest of trees.” The time of the year is spring; the speaker says describing the blossoms that they are “Wearing white for Eastertide.”

Second Stanza
In the second stanza, the speaker reveals that he is twenty years old as he calculates, according to the biblical claim that a lifespan is “threescore years and ten,” that he has only fifty more years to enjoy such beauty in spring. The speaker’s emphasis throughout the poem is on the intensity of the beauty and brevity of the time he will have to enjoy that beauty.

Third Stanza
In the third stanza, the speaker claims that because fifty more opportunities to enjoy these lovely trees with their luscious blossoms is not enough, he will go observe the same trees also in winter, when they are “hung with snow.” That way the speaker doubles his opportunities to enjoy the cheery trees “wearing white.”

More than Carpe Diem
While a strict carpe diem reading is not impossible, it seems unlikely for two main reasons: First, the speaker is already out enjoying the blooms so he is already seizing the day. It makes little sense to implore someone to seize the day, while the person is, in fact, already in the process of seizing it.

Second, the speaker has made it clear that he thinks experiencing this beauty only fifty more times is not enough, “And since to look at things in bloom, / Fifty springs are little room.” If fifty springs are not enough, simply suggesting to himself that should get looking would not change that fact in the least, especially since he is in the process of looking already.

Snow is Literal not Metaphorical
The carpe diem reading results from interpreting “snow” in the last line to be a metaphor for the cherry blossoms. And while that interpretation is not impossible, the poem’s achievement is greater if “snow” is taken literally. Thus, the speaker solves a problem: instead of just having fifty more times to look at the cherry wearing white, he doubles his opportunities.

Answer 2

Loveliest Of Trees

Answer 3

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Sorry I disagree with you about the age thing. He speaks of his "threescore years and ten" which you guys correctly identified as 70. Though I believe he is referring to the 70 years of his life that he thinks he will live out. His current age, I read as "twenty will not come again". I.e He is only twenty once in his life. "And take from seventy springs a score", so if from his total life of 70 years take a 'score' (20), he will only have 50 more beautiful springs in his lifetime to view the cherry blossom trees. To me, the poem is slightly about death but also juxtaposed by the theme of life, symbolised by Eastertide and the cherry blossom trees. The whiteness of the blossoms could also signify the the nearness of death and purity which reminds us of the frailty of life. This also ties in with the permeant theme of the 'limited time one has to enjoy nature.' There is also religious connotations associated with Easter, Jesus and rebirth etc. The "hung with snow" can be read in several ways though with no concrete and specific answer. Though there may be a more popular or relevant interpretation: Since "fifty springs are little room" to enjoy the fullness of their beauty, "about the woodlands" he will go, and visit/watch the "cherry" [trees] even when they are "hung with snow". I just thinks he will watch them even in Winter. "Hung with snow" could also simply be a poetic device to liken the appearance of cherry blossoms with snow.