Symbol Analysis
Okay, we've got snow and we've got some trees wearing the color white in celebration of the post-Easter season ("Eastertide"). Now, there are only two lines in the poem that contain some reference to the color white, but, in a poem that is only twelve lines long, that's like a ratio of one… to six (hey, we're getting the hang of this math stuff). In other words, that's significant. What's more, the color white is actually doing double duty in this poem. It symbolizes the purity and beauty of spring (the speaker is observing white cherry blossoms), but also the coldness and death of winter ("snow"). The whole point of this double duty is that life and death, winter and spring, youth and old age, are inseparable from each other.
- Line 4: In a very alliterative line, the speaker tells us that the cherry tree is "wearing white" in celebration of the Easter season. Of course, trees can't actually "wear" anything, so this is an example of personification that makes the tree seem more human (it sounds like a bunch of other people are probably wearing white). We also can't help thinking that the white "garments" the tree is wearing make it seem angelic and pure.
- Line 12: In this line, the speaker is using snow as a metaphor to describe the color of the blossoms. What's all that snow stand for? Coldness and death—that's what. The speaker's all-too-aware that time is ticking; he better appreciate the beauty of these trees while he can.