To Blossoms

Central idea: The poem “ To Blossoms ” tells us that all living things must blur. It’s all transient. People also come into this world, put some energy into it, and finally disappear. Every spirit, therefore, resembles a flower that sprouts and decorates this planet for some time and then at the end of time fades away. The poem ‘To Blossoms’ reflects this very fate of living beings.

To Blossoms | Summary

The poem To Blossoms by Robert Herrick is addressed to the flowers of a tree. When he sees the beautiful flowers of the tree he is filled with happiness. But his heart soon becomes hurtful and solemn when he realizes that the flowers will not last long. The poet wonders, “Why did nature bring such beautiful blossoms if they were to fade away swiftly?” He laments over the rapidly decaying flowers of the tree that fall so early, but the time has not passed. He asks for trees not to shed their leaves so quickly that their time is not yet gone.

He then compares the early departure of the tree with man’s short life. The poet also expresses his view that we are sad about our short life, but everyone must leave early like the leaves of the fruit tree in this eternal world.

Thus, the poet reflects on the short-lived nature of worldly things: flowers, youth and beauty, and all around. The poet compares the flowers with the leaves of a book in which the fate of all things can be read. Every living thing has to meet the same end: death. Therefore, man can learn a lesson from the fading blooms as he comes close to his tomb.

To Blossoms | Paraphrase

Robert Herrick’s poem ” To Blossoms ” praises the beautiful flowers of the tree. By ‘pledges’ the poet alludes to the indication of the rice crop. The poet appears grieved because of the rapid fall of the flowers. The poet, full of sorrow, asks the flowers why they fall so soon. He says their days haven’t passed yet. They wouldn’t hurry to expire.

He says the flowers still have time to smile and bloom. They can only leave when they have lived and enjoyed their life completely. The poet here seems conspicuous that blossoms like human beings, but only to disappear, but he doesn’t want the blossoms to vanish very soon. He wants to blush the flowers and then smile gently before they die (before they fade away).

The poet seems to suggest that you live and enjoy life in its entirety because death is inevitable. The poet is disappointed to see how early the bloom of the flowers disappears. The poet wondered how these blossoms were born to delight an hour or a half and then faded forever. Taking it disappointing, the poet expresses how nature shows its beauty by producing lovely flowers for a while and then they disappear forever.

The poet again appears grief-stricken by the fact that such beautiful flowers have a very short life as they bloom for a short period of time and eventually fade away forever. By ‘ beautiful leaves ‘ the poet here means the leaves of a book (the poet compared the flowers with the leaves of a book). The poet says that we can read in these leaves how quickly the life on this earth is coming to an end.

The poet praises the beauty of the blossoms. He says that nobody could replace the flowers in terms of their brightness and catchy colour. But the poet knows that all beautiful things are meant to die (we can’t change our destiny). After demonstrating their beauty, they glide straight into the tomb. Each soul is bound to disappear like the gorgeous flowers. The poet, therefore, gives the message that all life on this planet earth is temporary and is destined to disappear.

To Blossoms | Questions and Answers

Q. In what way are the blossoms pledges of the fruitful tree?

Ans. The blossoms are the signs of the rich crop. Before it bears fruits, a tree must bloom. A good harvest is only expected if the tree blossoms well. Blossoms are therefore the pledges of the fruitful tree.

Q. What is the poet’s wish about the blossoms?

Ans. The poet wants that the blossoms should stay for a longer time on this planet to beautify it. The poet feels down because the blossoms disappear very quickly.

Q. What does the poet mean by saying “Why do you fall so fast”?

Ans. The poet is aware that the beautiful blossoms of a tree would fade away very quickly. The poet wants that the lovely blossoms should stay for a longer time to beautify the planet, but it doesn’t happen. So in annoyance, he says, ” Why do you fall so fast?”

Q. Why does the poet compare human life to blossoms?

Ans. The life span of human beings is very short. This transitory characteristic of human beings is also shared by the flowers. For example, the blossoms come into the world, show their value and then fade away or die. In the same way, human beings also come to the world and demonstrate their purpose and die. That’s why the poet compares human life to blossoms.

Q. Name some blossoming trees in the state of J & K.

Some blossoming trees of Jammu and Kashmir are the apricot tree, the apple tree, the almond tree, the peach and the plum tree.

Q. What is the “pity” referred to in the second stanza?

Ans. The poet feels sorry about the early fall of the flowers. The blossoms live for a short lifetime. The poet wants them to stay longer as they make the surroundings beautiful and attractive. But that does not happen. Nature has created them just to show their worth. This is what has been referred to as “pity ” in the second stanza of the poem.

To Blossoms | Literary Devices

Q. What is personification and what is personified in the poem?

Ans. Personification is a figure of speech in which something -an idea or an animal- is bestowed the human properties. The non – human objects are represented in such a way that we feel that they act like human beings. For example, if we say, ” The sky weeps, ” we give the sky the capacity to weep, which is a human quality. We can, therefore, say that the sky is personified in the given sentence.

The beautiful blossoms of a tree are personified in the poem. They have been shown to live and fade away like human beings.