The poet in the poem focuses on the similarity between human life and the daffodils. The daffodils bloom in the morning and wither away before noon. It reminds the poet that life is short. In fact, the poem deals with the transience of human life. The very first stanza of the poem shows a melancholic tone of the poet. The fast dying beautiful daffodils make the poet weep as they remind him of his transient life on earth. Daffodils are beautiful flowers that bloom during spring. But, like the transient season daffodils are also short lived. They bloom in the morning and wither away before the sun attains his noon. Again, the poet equates the daffodils with the summer's rain and the morning dews. The rain of summer season and the morning dews come for a very short time. They soon vanish away and never return again. Like the morning dews and summer's rain daffodils also stay for short time. The poet makes an analogy of the life of the daffodils with the short lifespan of man. The time limit of human life shows that we are here only for a short visit. We come into this world and reach our spring like blooming daffodils. But after our youth we crawl towards death. This similarity between daffodils and man makes the poet weep. It reminds that life, whether floral or human, is short and usually ends sooner than desired. This is highly sad and melancholic. But, the speaker is a true Christian. He believes in God and afterlife. Thus, he believes in the complete submission of man to the will of God. He eventually accepts death without any complaint. Thus, the poet addresses the daffodils and asks them to stay until evening. After praying evening prayer together, he will also accompany the daffodils towards eternal life. He stoically accepts death.
Part: B (Short Questions)
1. What similarity does Robert Herrick find between the life of man and the daffodils?
Or, What characteristics of the daffodils does Herrick consider similar to human life?
Or, Why does Herrick weep to see the fair daffodils?
Ans. Robert Herrick focuses on the similarity between human life and the daffodils in his famous poem "To Daffodils". Daffodils are beautiful flowers that bloom during spring in England. Spring is the most pleasant and beautiful season but it only remains for a short span of time. Like the season daffodils are also short lived. They bloom in the morning and wither away before the sun attains his noon. Again, the poet equates the daffodils with the summer's rain and the morning dews. The rain of summer season and the morning dews come for a very short time. They soon vanish away and never return again. Like the morning dews and summer's rain daffodils also stay for short time. The poet makes the analogy of the life of the daffodils with the short lifespan of man. The time-line of human life shows that we are here only for a short visit. We come into this world and reach our spring like blooming daffodils. But after our youth we crawl towards death. Thus, the poet addresses the daffodils and asks them to stay until evening. After praying evening prayer together he will also accompany the daffodils towards eternity. This is because like flowers men too have a very transient life and even the youth is also very short lived. This similarity between daffodils and man makes Herrick weep.
[NB: Taken from Introduction to Poetry by Md. Rezaul Karim Sir, I posted this research purpose]
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