A Shropshire Lad - II - Loveliest of Trees

by A. E. Housman

　　

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Loveliest of Trees, the Cherry Now, or simply, Loveliest of Trees, was published in Housman's collection of 63 poems in A Shropshire Lad (1896). Housman self-published the book after being turned down by several publishers. Themes tend to focus on unrequited love, pastoral beauty, fleeting youth, grief, death, and patriotism. Loveliest of Trees is often assigned reading in high school.

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Van Gogh, B. Chender Obstgarten

　　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.

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A Shropshire Lad - II - Loveliest of Trees was featured as TheShort Story of the Day on Fri, Apr 28, 2023

　　

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This poem is featured in our selection of Poetry for Students and 100 Great Poems.

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