Sunday, September 21, 2014

Sunday Poetry - A E Housman

Something a little cheerier than last week although there's still melancholy in this lovely poem about an old man looking back on his life. Another poem set to music by George Butterworth & sung here by Bryn Terfel.

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now   
Is 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.  
 

7 comments:

  1. This is one of my favourites - a lovely poem for Adelaide at the moment, as spring does its stuff.

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    1. I was out in the garden this morning & the next few days are looking very springlike, low 20s each day. I wish it could stay like this & not get any hotter...

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  2. This is one of those poems that makes me very aware of the passage of time....."Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near" oops

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    1. Yes, we should all seize the day, shouldn't we? It's good to be reminded of that sometimes.

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  3. I went through a phase a few years ago where I memorized short poems, one a week I believe was my goal. This is one of the ones. I was hoping to improve my memory as well as my grasp of poetry.

    My late father grew up in the days when memorization was standard in schools. In his 70s and 80s, he could still rattle off impressively long poems.

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    1. I would love to be able to remember more poetry. We didn't have to learn it by heart when I was at school & although I can remember bits of poems, there are very few that I could recite. Your goal of memorizing poetry is great, how many can you remember still?

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