To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

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.

In the first stanza Herrick is talking to the young virgin and telling them to look for love and don't let it slip away. We cannot stop time from coming and we need to embrace our youthfulness and find a lover.

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.

Here Herrick is talking about the sun rising to the heavens and relating the setting sun to our aging cycle. Once the sun has set and the night falls and the warmth of the day has gone, much like the youthfulness in our bodies.

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.

He is saying that we are best at a young age. We are pure at heart and innocent. We are most lively in our youth and as time goes by it only gets worse.

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.

He finally concludes and says that we cannot be shy in our young age--we must use our time wisely and look for love while we still have the energy and youthfulness to express great amounts of love. For if we wait until we grow older we may look for love until our death.


In this poem Herrick is urging young women to marry while they are youthful and energetic. Herrick feels that we should marry young and live and grow with your partner instead of living in solitude.