The cherry tree is the loveliest of trees, and it is now in bloom. The blossoms are white, and it appears as though the tree is also celebrating the Easter season. The speaker is twenty years old, he will probably live to be about 70, so that means he's only got about… (carry the eleven…) 50 years left. Sadly, this just isn't enough time to look at everything he wants to see, so he vows to go about the "woodlands" and look at all the cherry trees "hung with snow."