“Loveliest of Trees” is the most striking poem by Housman. In the poem, the speaker celebrates the beauty of the cherry tree. In the first stanza, the speaker looks at the cherry tree in the woodland covered by white blossoms. The speaker says, "And stands about the woodland ride wearing for Eastertide." The tree looks gorgeous, and the speaker says it looks like an individual ready to celebrate the Easter holidays. The tree's white flowers symbolize peace, the main message during Easter celebrations. The flowering of the cherry tree takes place during spring; thus, the poem alludes to April, when the world celebrates Easter.
In stanza two, the speaker alludes to the Biblical reference to man's mortality. According to the Bible, a man's life expectancy averages 70 years. The speaker says, "Now, of my threescore years and ten, twenty will come again," implying that he is in his 20s and still has 50 years remaining. Therefore, if a man lives for seventy years, he has seventy spring seasons to witness the blossoming of the cherry tree.
In stanza three, the speaker reflects on the significance of the budding of the cherry tree. The harsh reality the speaker confronts is that the flowers of the cherry tree die in summer. Therefore, Housman builds the theme of mortality from this aspect and reminds readers that they are mortal. The speaker also feels sad that he has already lost twenty years of his lifespan, but he does not despair because he has 50 years of enjoying the beauty of nature.
