Robert Herrick: Poems Literary Elements

In To Daffodils, Herrick employs the first-person inclusive voice, 'we,' denoting multiple people viewing the daffodils and observing them or more likely representing humanity as a whole. However, the poem itself takes on the tone of an address as Herrick also uses the second person 'you,' and entitles the work To Daffodils, cementing the presence of two characters or entities - the body of people, however large or small, and the daffodils themselves.

The poem Discontents in Devon is written in one verse, an octet.

To Daffodils uses a lot of similes to compare people and human nature with the daffodil, for example 'we have a short time to stay, as you.' This direct comparison speaks of the fleeting nature of life and is continued throughout the second stanza.

Robert Herrick employs alliteration in the phrase 'private protonotary,' in the poem To his Conscience to highlight the scathing and exasperated tone with which the speaker addresses his conscience.

'Stay, stay' is ironic as the daffodils themselves cannot control when they stay or go. this metaphorically represents the fact that humans cannot control the time of their death.

The poem The Argument of his Book is a nature poem.

Possibly a field, as the poet is addressing daffodils. The poet does not explicitly reference the time in which the poem takes place, but does refer to both 'spring,' and 'summer,' as well as the 'morning,' showing that time in general is an important theme. (To Daffodils)

The tone of the poem To the Sour Reader is sarcastic and satirical.

The protagonist in the poem To the Sour Reader is the poet, Robert Herrick and the antagonist is the sour reader, as addressed in the title.

In the poem Delight in Disorder there is a subtle conflict between the way things are and the way they are supposed to be, for example, 'A sweet disorder in the dress / kindles in clothes a wantonness.' This highlights the imperfections in everyday items, yet the title Delight in Disorder allows these conflicts to exist in a positive light.

The climax of To Daffodils is the very last line 'Ne'er to be found again.' This predominately monosyllabic line finalizes the poem and gives the sense of a final death that can't be reversed. As the climax, it encapsulates the essence of the poem and the abrupt, finite nature of death.

The line, 'Weak I am grown, and must in short time fall,' in the poem His Return to London foreshadows the speakers death as he perceives it looming over him.

In his poem His Farewell to Sack, Robert Herrick addresses the sack, 'Farewell thou thing,' in the opening line, which is an understatement of his love and dismay at losing it, which is evident in the passion of the poem.

To Daffodils is in some ways an allusion to the Biblical imagery of humanity and life being fleeting like the grass or flowers, here today and gone tomorrow.

In To Daffodils, the daffodil is representative of humans' inevitable deaths.

In addressing the daffodil as 'Fair Daffodil,' Herrick is personifying the flower as a being in order to naturalize human death and humanize natural death. He also personifies the sun in 'As yet the early-rising sun / Has not attain'd his noon,' to contrast the fleeting life of the daffodils with the constant nature of the sun, which also represents the passing of time in this poem.

By stating 'We have short time to stay, as you,' in the poem To Daffodils the poet implies that the lifespan of the daffodil and and that of humans are similar or the same, which is an exaggeration aimed at emphasizing the fleeting nature of life in general.

N/A