To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

16 lines

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Summary Meaning

Robert Herrick's 'To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time' epitomizes the carpe diem tradition, urging youthful women to seize matrimonial opportunities before beauty and vitality wane. The poem's central imagery—rosebuds, the ascending then setting sun, and the progression of age—functions symbolically to naturalize the relentless passage of time and the body's inevitable decay. Philosophically, it draws on Epicurean hedonism and a Christian-inflected memento mori, compelling moral action (marriage) through the fear of lost opportunity rather than pure pleasure. The tone is simultaneously lyrical and urgently didactic, blending pastoral sweetness with a stark imperative that anticipates the darker meditations on mortality found in later metaphysical poetry.

ather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

The higher he's a-getting,

The sooner will his race be run,

And nearer he's to setting.

That age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worse, and worst

Times still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time,

And while ye may, go marry;

For having lost but once your prime,

You may forever tarry.

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