101 Poems, Number 75

Favorite Poems Throughout My Life

75: “Loveliest of Trees” (No 2 in A Shropshire Lad), 1896, by A. E. Housman (1859–1936)

“Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough”—

Oh, these are lines I loved and learned

About the things in spring that turned.

And now, again, it seems it’s spring—

And we know what a spring can bring:

Depression (snow and ice!)—the sun

Can cure it all (yes, Sol’s the one!).

Yes, Housman’s lines—I’ve learned a lot.

(He serves a lot of food for thought.)

And I admire A Shropshire Lad—

So bright, so dark, so hopeful, sad.

Link to poem.