Loveliest of Trees
LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry nowIs 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
A. E. Housman (1859-1936)
Discussion Questions:
1. Very briefly, this poem presents a philosophy of life. What is it?
2. How old is the speaker? Why does he assume that his life will only be seventy years in length? What is surprising about the words “only” and “little”?
3. A good deal of ink has been spilt over whether “snow” is literal or figurative. What do you say?
Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
Robert Frost (1874-1964)
Discussion Questions:
1. How do these two poems differ in idea?
2. What contrasts are suggested between the speaker in the second poem and a) his horse and b) the owner of the woods?Discu