Poem #8: Response to, "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" by Herrick

Poem:

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.

Response:

Going through the completed TPCASTT of this poem, the theme seems to be this idea of the beauty of youth, marrying young, and living life to the fullest. All three themes come full circle when representing this idea of youth and what it means to the speaker of the poem. In the poem, the author uses a variety of metaphors and personifications to interpret this message of seizing the day and not wasting any opportunities that may come someone's way. For example, the author states, "Gather ye rosebuds...dying" in the first stanza. This symbolization represents romance and sensuality. Considering the author uses a rose to depict the wasting of time indicates that the speaker is most likely speaking to someone he is romantically concerned with. The rose could also represent youth and freshness, like a new bloomed flower, which represents an opportunity that can still be seized. The author also uses personification in the first stanza that only a person can smile and not a flower. This depicts the image of the beauty of life. Although you may be beautiful and alive now, tomorrow can bring aging and growing up. 

In the second stanza, the sun is described as it moves across the sky during the day. Putting this into consideration, the sun is progressing across the sky into the horizon. This could mean the woman is closer to death each new day adding to this theme of seizing your opportunities as soon as you can. 

In the last stanza of the poem, the speaker urges all who are virgins to marry before it is too late. This portrays the religious aspect of the poem, convincing someone to seize the romantic opportunity by stating that they should marry. This implies that the speaker is speaking of the proper Christian way of pleasure and sexuality (it can only be experienced after marriage). 

Putting all of this connotation into consideration, it's easy to determine the theme of this poem to be this idea of marrying young, living life to the fullest, and not wasting your own youth when you have fantastic opportunities in front of you. The author also makes the speaker have a didactic tone of voice because he/she is trying to tell the readers to how to live their young lives before it's too late. 

Looking back at the title, the theme is confirmed. The title portrays the real feeling of seizing the day. The speaker reveals that time passing will only prevent women from seizing opportunities while they can. The title confirms the speaker's true intentions of the beauty of life and what may happen if one doesn't seize the day.