To Daffodils

Robert Herrick

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1665

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

Time is the Only Constant

The main message of Herrick’s speaker in “To Daffodils” is that things change. Time moves forward, waiting for nothing and no one. If there is a constant on which one can depend, it is that time always marches onward, aging objects and altering the landscape as it goes. All things eventually die and come to an end; thus, if time is a constant, so is death.

Herrick’s poem is a description of mortality. In order to relay this message of ephemerality, he uses symbolism to highlight the waxing and waning of life. The “early-rising sun” (Line 3) gives way to “noon” (Line 4) as “day” (Line 6) gives way to “even-song” (Line 8). “Spring” (Line 12) eventually moves from “growth” (Line 13) to “decay” (Line 13). The “summer’s rain” (Line 18) and “morning’s dew” (Line 19) both eventually dry up and evaporate. The eponymous daffodils will eventually “die” (Line 15). Because everything in life changes and vanishes, there doesn’t seem to be anything permanent in the physical world upon which the reading audience can rely. Herrick ends his poem with the disappearance of the morning dew, rather than with a hopeful message to his readers about the passage of time. With everything described as transitory, Herrick places readers in an uncomfortable position. He asks them to ponder what they should really rely and depend upon during their lifetime.

Prayer Brings Peace

Prayer is a more nuanced theme in Herrick’s poem, though still an important one. The reference to prayer only surfaces once throughout the verses. Encouraging the daffodils to remain until “the even-song” (Line 8), the poem’s speaker relates how the daffodils and the collective “we” of humanity will then “pray[] together” (Line 9). It is only after this act of praying that the collective “we” will then “go with [the daffodils] along” (Line 10). If the temporal pattern existing within the poem (of things fading, aging, and dying) is applied to this situation as well, then readers can assume that “go with you along” (Line 10) is a reference to dying. It is significant though, that only after prayer does the collective “we” feel ready to move forward to this next experience in life. Amidst an ever-changing world where people are constantly looking for a support system to fall back on and a source of comfort, the solace Herrick suggests to his readers is that of prayer. It is prayer that provides assurance in the shadow of the unknown.

Hope Can Always Be Found

As earlier mentioned, Herrick does not end his poem in the most hopeful or uplifting manner. However, if readers are willing to look deeply enough, they may sense the promise of new life Herrick implies. Even though the “early-rising sun” (Line 3) isn’t tracking across the sky as high or as quickly as it should, it will still follow its predetermined path. It will rise, then set, then rise again in perpetuity. So, though the sun gets clouded, readers understand that the sun will rise again tomorrow and there will be a new day. There will be a second chance at life. When the speaker relates how the collective humanity “pray’d together” (Line 9) with the daffodils, the act carries connotations of Last Rites before death. Last Rites is the ceremonial anointing of the sick before they pass away. This ritual prayer is intended to cleanse the sick person’s soul from sin in order to prepare them for the salvation of heaven. With this ritualistic prayer, there is the hope of redemption. In this particular reference, the speaker implies that life after death is possible through prayer.

The hope that there is always something more or a continuation of life progresses through the second stanza. After spring, readers intuitively know that summer, fall, and winter follow. “Spring” (Line 11) may “‘decay” (Line 13), but readers can rest easy knowing that it will be back after the year cycles through the rest of the seasons. Similarly, a “summer’s rain” (Line 18) is not a one-and-done occurrence. Numerous rains occur over the course of a single summer, and readers know that after one summer season ends, it will return the next year. Along this same line of thinking, the “pearls of morning’s dew” (Line 19) return to the grasses and flowers the following morning. The dew may disappear from sight, but readers understand that it will be outside again each subsequent morning. It is dependable and predictable. These attributes help mollify readers’ anxieties about death, change, and time. Even if time is constantly moving forward, at least there is a sense of recognition, stability, and redemption paired with the expectation of new life.