“To the Virgins, to Make Much Time”

ROBERT HERRICK1591-1674

BIOGRAPHY

• Anglican priest

• Admirer of Ben Jonson

• Loyal to the king

• 1648: published his only book of poems, Hesperides.

• “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying” (Ln 1-2)

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying:

And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow 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 for ever tarry.

• Tone: serious but playful

• Theme: Time

• Rhyme: ababcdcdefefghgh, exact rhyme

• Rhythm: Alternating Iambic Tetrameter and Iambic Trimeter with Catalexis

• Symbolism: flowers life cycle

• Personification: “The sooner will his race be run” (ln 7)

• Type: Lyric Poem

FUN FACTS• The poem is in the genre of carpe diem, Latin for seize the day.

• The poem was featured in the 9th episode of the first season on the HBO series The Newsroom.

• The line "Gather ye rosebuds" was quoted and referenced by George O'Malley to Izzy Stevens in the 12th episode of the third season of TV show Grey's Anatomy.

• Poets.org. Academy of American Poets. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.

• "Robert Herrick." Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation. Web. 1 Oct. 2014