It's hard not to think of the speaker of "Loveliest of Trees" as one of those guys on the Discovery Channel, showing you all the cool things the natural world has to offer. The first stanza is pretty much a description of a cherry tree, and the last stanza contains the speaker's vow to go around the woodlands and check out as many cherry trees as he can. Now, even though looking at cherry trees is a metaphor for making the most out of life, the speaker also does believe that those trees are the "loveliest" there is, worth experiencing in all of their glory.
Questions About Man and the Natural World
- Why cherry trees, really? Is it because cherries are the best fruit in existence (mmm)?
- What do you make of the word "woodland"? It shows up twice. What effect does it have?
- Why is the speaker's discussion of his age sandwiched between two stanzas about cherry trees?
Chew on This
The natural world is so beautiful that we really should spend as much time as we can observing its beauties as we can, just like the speaker of "Loveliest of Trees" vows to do.
While the speaker may be exaggerating a bit when he says that 50 years isn't enough time to do all the exploring he wants, his point is clear: the natural world is a rich, inexhaustible source of beauty and delight.