To Daffodils

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1665

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

Herrick’s poem consists of two stanzas of 10 lines each. Each stanza features the same metrical pattern, with the first four lines alternating between iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. An iamb is a metrical unit, or “foot,” in poetry consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. In a tetrameter line, there are four of these units, while in a trimeter line there are three of these units. This pattern can be clearly seen in the first two lines of the poem: “Fair Daffodils, we weep to see / You haste away so soon” (Lines 1 - 2). This pattern is broken when each stanza reaches its respective fifth line. The fifth and seventh lines of each stanza feature a single metrical unit of two stressed syllables, also known as a spondee: “Stay, stay” (Line 5), “Has run” (Line 7), “We die” (Line 15), and “Away” (Line 17). The lines separating these instances of spondaic meter are written in iambic trimeter, and after the final spondee has passed, the lines return to alternating between iambic trimeter and iambic pentameter.

The unique meter Herrick utilizes in this poem fits with the message. As the poem notes the passing of time and how life ultimately ends, the rhythm created by the lines serves two purposes. First, the break in the singsong, more upbeat and quickly paced rhythm symbolizes the ending of life the speaker is relating. Just as life eventually ends, the metrical pattern of the poem reflects this as it cannot be sustained throughout the entirety of the stanzas. Also, adding the spondees into the middle of the stanzas forces the readers to slow down in their progress through the poem. They must slow their pace and take time to comprehend what Herrick’s speaker is telling them: Life is fleeting and time shouldn’t be taken for granted.

Each stanza also features the same rhyme scheme, which is unique and features a single rhyming couplet and a broken pattern: abcbddceae. In addition to the single couplet, there are some alternating lines that rhyme as well as some rhymes that frame the first and second half of the stanza. While the pattern exists, it is drawn out across the entire stanza, showing how all things are interconnected on the journey through the poem just as all things are intertwined through life’s journey.

Simile and Metaphor

The entire poem about daffodils that “haste away so soon” (Line 2) can be read as an extended metaphor for human death. Through this extended metaphor, Herrick grounds a deep, sorrowful topic into one a bit more approachable for readers. Thinking about flowers dying is more digestible than the human reader considering their own eventual passing and decay. Throughout the text, the speaker places the passing of time and of life into terms the reader could more readily grasp. The fading of the daffodils’ petals is equated with the “early-rising run” (Line 3), which fails to “attain[] his noon” (Line 4). The drying up of life is likened to “the summer’s rain” (Line 18) which eventually dries up and to “the pearls of morning’s dew” (Line 19) which evaporate and disappear in the course of a single morning. Relating the passing of time and the concept of death in terms of the physical and natural world helps ground the message of the speaker and make Herrick’s poem more palatable for his readers.

Apostrophe

As a literary convention, the apostrophe is a direct address to an individual not present in the context of the poem, or a direct address to a personified object (animate or inanimate). In Herrick’s poem, the recipient of the speaker’s message is clearly identified in the title: “To Daffodils.” Herrick speaks to the flowers as his intended audience, directly referencing them as “You” in Lines 2, 11, and 14. The address to the daffodils also melds with the speaker’s reference to a collective “we” toward the end of the first stanza and the beginning of the second stanza.

Though the speaker may be directly addressing the daffodils, their message is intended for all humanity. The speaker relates the inevitable truth that all things pass away in time. Humans are mortal and their time on earth is limited. In addition to relaying this message, the speaker shows a desire to extend time as much as possible and make the most of what is allotted to each individual, especially through “pray[ing] together” (Line 9). By directing this message to the innocent, beautiful daffodils rather than toward a human reader, Herrick makes his message slightly more agreeable for readers who may not initially desire to read a poem about their personal demise.