1. To the Virgins To Make Much of Time
By: Robert Herrick
PowerPoint by: Camille Smart

2. 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.
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.

3. About the Poem This poem can be viewed in two ways.
Such as the man is persuading this woman to express herself sexually before it is to late.
It can also be viewed as Herrick trying to persuade girls to marry while they are young, so they can enjoy the whole fullness of life with someone.
But the poem is more expressed as being sexually active while you are young, and not waiting to long.

4. Expressing herself GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying:(1)
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,(2)
The sooner will his race be run,(3)
And nearer he’s to setting.
That age is best which is the first,(4)
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,(5)
And while ye may go marry;(6)
For having lost but once your prime(7)
You may for ever tarry.(8)
Hurry up, time is flying
The day is growing old
Sun is setting & the day is almost over
Better to do stuff when you are young
Give into your passion
Do what you want to do
Don’t wait to long or you will be out of your prime
If you wait to long then you will never get to express yourself
Coy- pretending shy, reluctant to make a commitment
Tarry- to be tardy

5. Symbols In this poem, the man is speaking to the woman
The title emphasizes much by meaning, A virgin takes to much
time
Tarry is a strong word in this story meaning, to be tardy. This
word makes the poem say not to wait to long or you won’t
have any time left. You will never have time to express
yourself afterwards or do what you want.
An alliteration is “The higher he’s a-getting”. The “h”
emphasizes each other
Another alliteration is “…But being spent, the worse, and the
worst…”. The “w” are expressed together
One symbol in the story is in the second paragraph when he
states “…the sun,…..the sooner will his race be run, and
nearer he’s to setting.” This symbols that time is almost over
and she will be cut short

6. One very important symbol I have gained from this poem is the image of a wilting rose. It is stated directly and indirectly, but it can be gathered from the poem. The wilting rose represents time ending. The rose will eventually die and so will everything else around it. This shows that you want to do anything you can before it is to late.

7. Robert Herrick was born in London in 1591
Robert’s life was torn apart when his father Nicholas killed himself a year after his birth
Herrick wrote poems on morality and death, fortune and fate,
poverty and riches,
flowers, love and
mistress, and he
even wrote 63
known poems
about his love Julia.
This poem was written based upon Julia
Herrick has written over 1200 poems

8. Personal Views I thought this poem portrayed a negative aspect.
People do
want to know the
experience of being
with someone but there
is also the point that you
need to wait until the right moment and the right time. This is a good poem but it does seem a little negative. Also consider that the way he wrote the poem seems to say that he doesn’t want anything but to sleep with her.

9. Interesting Facts about Robert Herrick
Herrick could have been considered an obsessed man about his love for Julia. Some of the poems he written about her consist of:
On Julia’s Breath
Upon Julia’s Breasts
Upon His Julia
Her Bed
Her Legs
Upon the nipples of
Julia’s Breast
Upon the Roses in
Julia’s Bosom
His Last Request to Julia
Upon Julia’s Sweat
The Candour of Julia’s
Teeth
Upon Her Weeping
Another Upon Her Weeping