A Shropshire Lad
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Key: V: Textual Variation. C: Commentary. Q: Question. Glossary
ASL II “Loveliest of trees”
Top ▲ Glossary
| Line | Word | Glossary |
| 2 | Bough | The main branch of a tree |
| 3 | Ride | A path broad enough to ride a horse along, usually through a wood |
| 4 | Eastertide | The religious season of Easter |
| 5 | Threescore | Sixty (a score being twenty) |
Top ▲ Variations
| Line | Text | Textual variation |
| 2 | along the bough] under the bough, | |
| 3 | about the woodland ride]
i) along the woodlands wide |
|
| 4 | white] snow | |
| 5 | d1/d3 | Now, of my] And since, of |
| 5-6 | d2 | And since my days, the days of men, | Are but threescore years and ten, |
| 7-8 | d3 | i) And yet of all the springs in store ii) And so of all the springs in store | I shall see but fifty more |
Top ▲ Questions
| Line | Question |
| 1 | What is it about the cherry tree in particular that makes it “Loveliest” in the opinion of the speaker of the poem? |
| 3 | Why is it important that the tree stands “about the woodland ride“, rather than just in woodland? |
| 4 | White is the liturgical colour for Easter and would be worn by the clergy in services. With what else is the colour associated? |
| 5 -6 | Consider the earlier draft form of the second stanza and the beginning of the third:And since my days, the days of men, Are but threescore years and ten, And so of all the springs in store And since to look at things you love In what ways do you think the final version is |
| 6 | The voice of the poem, aged twenty, is concerned that he may only have another fifty years of life. What does this suggest to you about the character of the persona that Housman has created? |
| 7 | Why do you think Housman uses the particular word “springs” to refer to years? |
| 12 | While it is not unknown for there to be snow at Easter in England, it would certainly be unusual. If we are to understand the “snow” of the final line to refer to the cherry blossom, why do you think Housman has chosen this particular metaphor to describe it? |
famous locally grew in the garden of
Perry Hall (the Housman family home
where AEH lived until his mother’s death when he was 12, at which time the
family moved to the Clock House in the nearby village of Fockbury).
England, White is the Liturgical Colourfor
the festal periods including that from Easter Day to the Eve of Pentecost as
well as specific festivals in the church as well as specific services
including Marriages Baptism, Confirmation and Ordination, It may be used in
preference to purple or black for Funerals, and should be used at the Funeral
of a child.
the life-span that a human being might expect to enjoy:”The days of our years are threescore years and ten;and if by reason of strength
they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour
and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.”Psalm 90, v.10
time in the English climate; as such both might be seen as symbols of the
brief life-span of man which pre-occupies the speaker in this and many other
poems in the collection.
lines, rhymed as couplets. However, the inverted rhythm of the first word, Love-li-est,
offers a hesitation or contemplation as the poem begins.