To Daffodils is a poem written by Robert Herrick.
Summary
The poet is very sad to see that daffodils are very beautiful but their lives come to an end very soon. Their life is very short spread over a period of a few hours – starts from the early rising of the sun and ends even when the sun has not reached the noontime. The poet entreats them to stay on and survive at least till evening when evening prayers and ringing of bells in the Church started. The poet wishes that he would sing his evening prayer together with daffodils and then both of them will go to end their lives.
The life of daffodils is very short but very beautiful, so the life of a man may be short but it also should be beautiful, pleasant and full of pleasures. The poet compares the lives of a man and the daffodils and says that their lives are very short, yet they are as beautiful and charming as the spring. The daffodils and the spring grow and die quickly so do they decay and die very soon. The same is the case with the fate of poets. Poets’ fame and honour grows very quickly but it also fades out very soon. Poets life is compared with summer’s rain which does not last long and with dew drops which are evaporated with the rising sun.
The poet concludes that long life is meaningless if it is not beautiful and purposeful. A short but beautiful and meaningful life is preferable. The daffodils, the spring the dew drops, the summer rain are meaningful and pleasant, though their lives are short yet their life is better than a long but useless life.