316. To Daffodils
Fair daffodils, we weep to seeYou haste away so soon;As yet the early-rising sunHas not attain'd his noon.Stay, stay,Until the hasting dayHas runBut to the evensong;And, having prayed together, weWill 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 dryAway,Like to the summer's rain;Or as the pearls of morning's dew,Ne'er to be found again.
As gilliflowers do but stayTo blow, and seed, and so away;So you, sweet lady, sweet as May,The garden's glory, lived a whileTo lend the world your scent and smile.But when your own fair print was setOnce in a virgin flosculet,Sweet as yourself, and newly blown,To give that life, resigned your own:But so as still the mother's powerLives in the pretty lady-flower.
Words in this poem
- evensong n.
- A song for the evening; the evening service or form of worship (in the Church of England including vespers and compline); also, the time of evensong. Wyclif. [AS. æfensang.]
- resigned a.
- Submissive; yielding; not disposed to resist or murmur.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
316. To Daffodils is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Hesperides & Noble Numbers: Vol. 1 and 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #22421; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Robert Herrick, 316. To Daffodils, in Hesperides (1648), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #22421, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/herrick-hesperides/316-to-daffodils.html, id L05340.
Form and metre
316. To Daffodils is 31 lines in 3 stanzas. The rhyme scheme is ABCBDDCEAE, complete in 2 of its 3 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 97% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 6.8 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 32% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABCBDDCEAE seeA · soonB · sunC · noonB · stayD · dayD · runC · evensongE · weA · alongE
- 2 ABCBDDCEAE youA · springB · decayC · anythingB · dieD · dryD · awayC · rainE · dewA · againE
- 3 AAABBCCDDEE stayA · awayA · mayA · whileB · smileB · setC · flosculetC · blownD · ownD · powerE · flowerE
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Fair daffodils, we weep to see | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| You haste away so soon; | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| As yet the early-rising sun | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Has not attain'd his noon. | 6 | ··˘/·· |
| Stay, stay, | 2 | ·· |
| Until the hasting day | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Has run | 2 | ·· |
| But to the evensong; | 6 | ···/˘˘ |
| And, having prayed together, we | 8 | ·/˘·˘/˘· |
| Will go with you along. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| We have short time to stay, as you, | 8 | ········ |
| We have as short a spring; | 6 | ······ |
| As quick a growth to meet decay, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| As you, or anything. | 6 | ···/˘· |
| We die, | 2 | ·· |
| As your hours do, and dry | 7 | ··/˘··· |
| Away, | 2 | ˘/ |
| Like to the summer's rain; | 6 | ···/˘· |
| Or as the pearls of morning's dew, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Ne'er to be found again. | 6 | ····˘/ |
| As gilliflowers do but stay | 8 | ········ |
| To blow, and seed, and so away; | 8 | ······˘/ |
| So you, sweet lady, sweet as May, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The garden's glory, lived a while | 8 | ·/˘/˘··· |
| To lend the world your scent and smile. | 8 | ········ |
| But when your own fair print was set | 8 | ········ |
| Once in a virgin flosculet, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Sweet as yourself, and newly blown, | 8 | ··˘/·/˘· |
| To give that life, resigned your own: | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| But so as still the mother's power | 9 | ·····/˘/˘ |
| Lives in the pretty lady-flower. | 9 | ···/˘/˘/˘ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.