Poem: To Daffodils
By Robert Herrick

Fair Daffodils, we weep to see
You haste away so soon;
As yet the early-rising sun
Has not attain’d his noon.
Stay, stay,
Until the hasting day
Has run
But to the even-song;
And, having pray’d together, we
Will go with you along.

We have short time to stay, as you,
We have as short a spring;
As quick a growth to meet decay,
As you, or anything.
We die
As your hours do, and dry
Away,
Like to the summer’s rain;
Or as the pearls of morning’s dew,
Ne’er to be found again.

Bangla Summary

ব্যক্তিজীবনে রবার্ট হেরিক ব্যাপক আনন্দ উল্লাস করেছেন। তিনি জীবনকে উপভোগ করেছেন মনের মত করে। তার সারাটা জীবন সুরা, নারী, কবিতা আর গান নিয়ে কাটিয়েছেন তিনি। একসময় আনন্দ করতে করতে জীবনের শেষ মুহূর্তে এসে পৌঁছে যান তিনি। বিভিন্ন সমালোচক মনে করেন, কবি বৃদ্ধ বয়সে তিনি নিজের যৌবন ও জীবনের ক্ষণস্থায়ীত্ব নিয়ে বিলাপ করতেন। তার এই মনস্তাত্ত্বিকতাই এই কবিতার উপজীব্য বিষয়। রবার্ট হেরিক এর “To Dafffodils” একটি সুন্দর শোকগাঁথা। এই কবিতায় কবি ড্যাফোডিল ফুলের পাশাপাশি মানুষের ক্ষণস্থায়ী জীবনের ব্যথাতুর দিকটি তুলে ধরেছেন। তিনি তা তুলে ধরতে গিয়ে ড্যাফোডিল ফুলের টিকে থাকার ক্ষণস্থায়ী তুলে ধরেছেন।

কবিতার প্রথম পর্বে তিনি ড্যাফোডিল ফুলের সংক্ষিপ্ত জীবন দেখে দুঃখ করে বলেন যে, ড্যাফোডিলের সংক্ষিপ্ত সময় দেখে সবার কান্না পায়। কারণ তারা সকালে ফোটে এবং দুপুর হওয়ার পূর্বেই ঝরে পড়ে যায়। তাই তিনি ডেফোডিল ফুলকে বলেন যাতে তারা সন্ধ্যা হওয়া পর্যন্ত অপেক্ষা করে। তখন তিনি ও অন্যান্যরাও প্রার্থনা শেষে ড্যাফোডিল ফুলের সাথে ঝরে যাবেন। অর্থাৎ কবি ড্যাফোডিল ফুলের জীবনের সময়ের সাথে মানবজীবনকে কল্পনা করেন। কারণ মানব জীবনও ড্যাফোডিলের মতোই সংক্ষিপ্ত।

এরপর কবি বলেন যে, মানবজীবন ড্যাফোডিল ফুলের মতো ক্ষণজন্মা, বসন্তের মতো ক্ষণস্থায়ী, গ্রীস্মের মত ক্ষণস্থায়ী, যা একটু সময় পরেই বৃষ্টি হয়ে ঝড়ে পড়ে। ভোরের শিশিরের মতো মানবজীবন। কারণ ভোরের শিশির সূর্য ওঠার সাথে সাথে মিলিয়ে যায়। আর কখনো তা খুঁজে পাওয়া যায় না। মানুষের জীবনেও তেমনি। কারণ মানুষ একবার মারা গেলে আর সেই জীবন কখনো ফিরে আসে না।

মূলত, এই কবিতায় কবি মানুষের সংক্ষিপ্ত জীবনের জন্য বিলাপ করেছেন। তিনি আরো বলেন যে, পৃথিবীতে কোন সুন্দর জিনিস বেশি দিন টিকে থাকে না। যেমন ড্যাফোডিল ফুল। তাছাড়া তিনি মানবের জীবনকে বসন্তের সাথে তুলনা করে যৌবনকালের সুষমার কথা বলেছেন। কিন্তু সে যৌবন বেশি দিন টিকে থাকে না। একসময় তা শেষ হয়ে যায়। এভাবে এই কবিতায় কবি পৃথিবীতে মানব জীবনের ক্ষণস্থায়ীত্ব এর দিক নিয়ে শোক প্রকাশ করেছেন।

Short 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 they reach 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.”

Long Summary

In his personal life, Robert Herrick rejoiced greatly. He has enjoyed life to the fullest and spent his entire life with alcohol, women, poetry, and songs. Once upon a time, he reached the last moment of his life while rejoicing. Various critics think the poet lamented the shortness of his youth and energy in his old age. This psychology of his is the subject of this poem. Robert Herrick’s “To Daffodils” is a beautiful lament. In this poem, the poet highlights the daffodil flower and the painful aspect of transient human life. He goes on to highlight the short-lived survival of the daffodil flower.

In the first part of the poem, he regrets seeing the short life of the daffodil flower and says that seeing the short time of the daffodil makes everyone cry. Because they bloom in the morning and fall before noon, he tells the daffodil flowers to wait until evening. Then he and the others will fall with the daffodil flowers at the end of the prayer. That is to say, the poet Daffodil imagines human life with the period of the flower’s life because human life is as short as daffodils.

Then the poet says that human life is short-lived like a daffodil flower, short-lived like spring, and short-lived like summer, which after a while, rains and falls. Human life is like the dew of dawn. Because the morning dew melts as the sun rises, it is never found again. The same is true in human life. Because once a person dies, that life never comes back.

Basically, in this poem, the poet laments man’s short life. He added that no beautiful thing in the world lasts long. Such as daffodil flowers. Moreover, he compares human life with spring and speaks of the balance of youth. But that youth does not last long. Once it is over, thus, in this poem, the poet laments the transience of human life on earth.

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 the last word of the 1st line is “see” and the last word of the 9th line is “we”. Both have the same sound. So we can mark it ” a”. Then, the last word of the 2nd line is “soon” and the last word of the 4th line is “noon”. Both have the same sound. So we will mark it ” b”. Again, the last word of the 3rd and 7th lines are “sun”, and “run” .Both have the same sound. So we can mark it “c”. Further again the last words of the 5th and 6th lines are ” stay” and “day”. Both have the same sound. So we can mark it ” d”. And finally, the last words of the 8th and 10th are “evensong” and “along”. Both have the 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:

The 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 of lines contributes to the quick rhythm of the poem which in fact represents the brevity of life.

Theme:

The 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. They bloom in the morning and wither away before it is noon. Thus, the beauty of the daffodils is transient. Similarly, human life is very short. The poet refers to the youth as spring. 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 a human beings. Just as the beauty of daffodils does not last long, 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 the writer can’t use his/her own feelings, emotions, and own choice.

The position of the poet is subjective in the poem. The poem is 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 mean the use of ornamental elements in 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”, and “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 human life and daffodils.
Simile:
The poet compares the short life of humans to spring, the best period of the year which is full of beauty.
Alliteration:
The poet also uses alliteration using word pairs like “soon/noon” “stay/day” etc.

Q: What are the images used in the poem?

Ans: This poem is replete with several images. First of all, we see the image of daffodils. Daffodils are beautiful flowers. They bloom in the morning and wither away before it is noon. The next image we see is the rising sun moving up to noon. Then poet produces before the readers the image of spring which is as short as the youth of human beings. Lastly, we see the images of summe’s rain and the morning dew. We see the summer’s rain dried away very soon at the heat of the sun. The poet compares the beauty of morning’s dew with the beauty of pearls. In short, the poet wants to convey to the readers the truth that all beautiful things on earth are very short lived. They die and dry away very fast, and never come back.

Q: Why does the poet request the daffodils to stay till the evening?

Ans: Daffodils are beautiful flowers. But the poet does not derive any pleasure from the daffodils because these beautiful flowers remind him of the short duration of human life. Daffodils bloom early in the morning, its beauty does not last long. It withers away before it is noon. So the poet requests the daffodils to stay till the evening so that he can go with the daffodils after saying his evening prayers. Here the ‘evening’ does not mean the evening of a particular day. The poet uses the ‘evening’ as a metaphor for the last moment of his life. The short duration of human life reminds the poet of the short duration of joy in human life. So, he requests the daffodils to stay till the last moment of his life. It hints that the poet wants to be in joy throughout his life.

Q: Explain the following lines.

Like to the summer’s rain,
Or as the pearls of morning’s dew,
Never to be found again.

Ans: In these lines, the poet compares human life with summer’s rain and morning’s dew.
In this poem, the poet laments the short duration of human life. He compares human life with summer’s rain. The season of summer is very dry. At that time, rain comes for a short time. The water of summer’s rain does not last long. It dries as soon as the rain stops. So, the duration of summer’s rain is very short. Like the summer’s rain, human life is very short. Human beings grow very fast only to meet death and decay. The poet again compares human life with the pearls of morning dew. The drops of morning dew are very beautiful. They look like pearls. But they do not last long. They vanish away as soon as the sun rises. Thus, the poet finds similarities between human life, and summer’s rain and morning’s dew as both of them are short silved.