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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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