The theme of the poem 'Divination by a Daffodil' by Robert Herrick is the ability to guess something, perceive something through intuition or prescience. In the case of Robert Herrick, his premonition is of his own death, and he is sparked to think of it by the sight of a daffodil as it blooms, withers and dies. Many people, such as William Wordsworth have been moved to glorious feelings of joy by the sight of daffodils, but Herrick is more preocccupied with their withering than their blooming. In this neat, careful economical little poem he describes the stages 'first I will decline my head.' He envisages old age and frailty, and by intuition can sense (helped by the image of the dying flower in front of him) the way that all this life will play out towards its end. In this, he he 'divines' or senses his, and our, future under the earth.
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