"Born on August 24, 1591, Robert Herrick was the seventh child and fourth son born to a London goldsmith...When Herrick was fourteen months old, his father died. At age sixteen, Herrick began a ten-year apprenticeship with his uncle. The apprenticeship ended after only six years, and Herrick, at age twenty-two, matriculated at Saint John's College, Cambridge. He graduated in 1617."
"Over the next decade, Herrick became a disciple of Ben Jonson, about whom he wrote five poems. In 1623, Herrick took holy orders, and six years later he became vicar of Dean Prior in Devonshire...[he died in] 1674."
"Herrick was influenced by classical Roman poetry and wrote on pastoral themes, dealing mostly with English country life and village customs."
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.
Response Poems:
Note: four students wrote response poems but requested to not be listed and so are not shown here.
"Untitled" (freshman, Uni High, 2026)
O daffodil,
Thou sees its comrades die
and yet come back strongly
such beauty
only to decay with the wind
"Untitled" (subbie, Uni High, 2026)
The brightest flame must always extinguish,
No golden hour will ever last,
For time always moves forward,
The summer bloom must always wilt,
And memories fill the space instead,
For time always moves forward
"Untitled" (subbie, Uni High, 2026)
The sun fades
The dark comes
Goodbye to the old ways
"Untitled" (subbie, Uni High, 2026)
Thy daffodil,
You inspire such beauty
Tis such a shame that
your gracious beauty
amount to but dust in the wind
"Untitled" (subbie, Uni High, 2026)
Daffodils bloom
Daffodils wilt
Summer warms
Autumn cools
Winter freezes
Spring brings life
Seasons spin
Around and around
Unceasing
Life continues
"Untitled" (subbie, Uni High, 2026)
We trade long afternoons for minutes,
count our joys in passing trains.
We focus on ourselves until nothing remains
We tap on screens and forget
we forget what's the best
we forget what is or what will become.
we forget who we are and forget who survived
we forget all of this as time flies by
As children's laughter spins to echoes, and
photographs skim off the wall.
The things we care about.
They fall.
Not because we don't care
They fall because we aren't "there"
"Willow & Oak" (subbie, Uni High, 2026)
O graceful willow
Why do you weep?
The sun is shining bright
Birdsong fills the springtime air
And sets my soul alight
O mighty oak
I weep because
My friends have all but gone
Melancholy fills my heart
In a sad and lonely song
O ashen willow
Cannot you still
Enjoy this lovely day?
For surely all their memories
Will with time face
O hardy oak
The sun is setting on
A lonely, distant morn
And evermore i will
Remember them and mourn
(image credit: poets.org)
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