the poem progresses Herrick extends this idea to human life The poet suggests that our time is as brief as the daffodils bloom As you or anything We die As your hours do and dry Away He compares human existence to a short spring that quickly fades He compares human existence to the summer's rain and morning's dew which vanishes quickly and never to be found again The speaker ultimately accepts that everything must come to an end Through this simple comparison Herrick captures a universal truth about life s shortness He encourages us to appreciate the beauty around us before it fades Images and Metaphors Herrick uses powerful imagery in To Daffodils to create a sense of life s transience The beautiful daffodils are symbols of youth and beauty and their swift decay mirrors how quickly beautiful moments in life pass Summer's rain and morning's dew are two vivid images that dry up quickly These images imply how quickly beautiful things fade just like human existence Literary Devices Simile and Personification The poem effectively uses similes to emphasize life s brevity Herrick writes We die As your hours do and dry Away Here the poet compares human life directly to the short-lived hours of daffodils In another simile he compares life to summer s rain and pearls of morning s dew which both disappear quickly capturing the swift passage of time Personification also enriches the poem Herrick personifies the sun He writes As yet the early-rising sun Has not attain'd his noon Here the poet gives the sun a sense of human purpose This personification reflects the speaker s anxiety about reaching their own noon or peak in life The poet also personifies the daffodils He addresses the daffodils as if they could understand Form Meter Rhyme Scheme To Daffodils consists of lines divided into two stanzas each with a distinct rhyme scheme ABCBDDCEAE This rhyme pattern gives the poem a gentle rhythmic flow The poem s alternating meter shifting between iambic tetrameter four beats per line and trimeter three beats per line adds a musical quality The shorter fifth and seventh lines in each stanza draw attention to life s fleeting moments In essence Robert Herrick delivers a thoughtful meditation on the passage of time in To Daffodils He captures the beauty and sadness of life s impermanence Although the poem mourns the shortness of life it also reminds us to cherish each moment