To Daffodils
Robert Herrick
★★Summary:
In the first stanza the poet said that he weeps for the short duration of daffodil flowers.Daffodils are very beautiful flowers. They bloom in the morning and wither away before it reach at noon. So they are short-lived. The poet requests the daffodils to stay till the evening so that he can pray with the daffodils.Then he wants to go with the daffodils after saying his evening prayers.
In the second stanza, the poet says that human life is very short. Human beings grow very fast to meet death. He compares human life to the summer's rain and the pearls of morning's dew, which are short-lived. Thus, the poet, in the poem, compares the short life of human beings to the short life of daffodils."
★★Rhyme Scheme:
Rhyme scheme is the ordered pattern of rhymes at the ends of the lines of a poem or verse
★The rhyme scheme of the poem is abcb ddce ae.
"see"=a
"soon"=b
"sun"=c
"noon"=b
"stay"=d
"day"=d
"run"=c
"evensong"=e
"we"=a
"along"=e
Here last word of the 1st line is "see" and last word of the 9th line is "we". Both have same sound.So we can mark it " a".
Then,the last word of the 2nd line is "soon" and last word of the 4th line is "noon". Both have same sound. So we will mark it " b".
Again,the last word of the 3rd and 7th lines are "sun"," run".Both has same sound. So we can mark it "c".Further again the last word of the 5th and 6th line's are " stay" and "day". Both has same sound. So we can mark it " d".And finally,the last word of the 8th and 10th are "evensong" and "along". Both has same sound.So we will mark it "e".
So at last we can find out that the rhyme scheme of the poem is abcb ddce ae.
★★Tone:
Tone is a musical or vocal sound with reference to its pitch, quality, and strength.
The tone of the poem is sad or melancholic. The poem deals with the transitory of the beauty of nature and the short life of human beings. At the beginning of the poem, the poet says that he weeps to see the short duration of the beauty of daffodils. They bloom in the morning and wither away before it is noon. Similarly, human life is very short. Human beings grow very fast to meet death. Human life is as short as the duration of the summer's rain and the duration of the dew drops in the morning. Thus, the tone of the poem is sad or melancholic as the poem begins with sadness and this sadness continues till the end of the poem.
★★Structure:
The poem consists of 2 stanzas.Each stanza has 10 lines.One main point of the poem is that the same number of syllables have both stanzas.The shortness lines contributes to the quick rhythm of the poem which in fact represents the brevity of life.
★★Theme:
Theme is the central idea in a piece of writing. The whole body explains the theme.
The theme of this poem is the transience of life and beauty. In the first stanza, the poet presents the short life of daffodils. Daffodils are beautiful flowers but their beauty does not last long.So the beauty of the daffodils are transient. Similarly, human beings grow fast only to meet death and decay. He compares human life to the summer's rain that comes for a short time. He again compares human life with the dew drops in the morning which vanish away as soon as the sun rises. Thus, the short duration of daffodils reminds the poet of the short duration of human being.The life of a human being does not last long. Thus, the transience of life and beauty is the theme of the poem.
★★Authors Position:
When an author writes to persuade,he/she will have his/her own position on the subject.The author's position is an author's opinion about the subject.It may be subjective or objective.
Subjective means where the writer can use his/her own feelings,emotion, and own choice.
Objective means where writer cann't use his/her own feelings,emotions and own choice.
The position of the poet is subjective in the poem. The poem is a lyric and the poet expresses his personal emotion in the poem. The poet weeps to see the beautiful daffodils being vanished away very quickly. The daffodils are beautiful flowers.The poet requests the daffodils to stay until the evening so that they can go together. Like the daffodils, human life is very short. Both of them grow very fast to be destroyed earlier. He again compares human life to the summer's rain and morning's dew which are short-lived. The central idea presented by the poet in this poem is that like the flowers humans have a very short life in this world. It is the personal view of the poet. So, his position in the poem is subjective.
★★Figures of Speech:
Figures of Speech means use of ornamental elements into a piece of writing.
The poet used several figures of speech in this poem.
★Imagery:--
The poet used images like daffodils, morning dew, early rising sun etc.
★Personification:--
The daffodils are personified as the poet addresses the daffodils as if they are human beings.
The poet also uses similes and metaphors.
★Metaphor:---
He uses the metaphors like "spring, "morning dew". "summer's rain", "pearl' to refer to the short life of the human being. The "daffodils" themselves are used as a metaphor as the poet makes a comparison between the human life and daffodils.
★Simile:--
The poet compares the short life of humans to a spring, the best period of the year which is full of beauty.
★Alliteration:---
The poet also uses alliteration using the word pairs like "soon/noon" "stay/day" etc.
-----Written by Krishna Mandal