Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries a significant theme in poetry was once carpe diem. Carpe diem is a Latin term meaning “seize the day”. The theme of carpe diem is mostly used in love poems and can also be described as "Time is fleeting, so act decisively to enjoy it." That means living in the moment because you never know when it might be your last day. Horace, a Roman poet, was the first to use carpe diem poetry. Many works have been written using carpe diem; two of these works include "To His Coy Mistress", written by Andrew Marvell, and "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", written by Robert Herrick. In carpe diem poetry, poets often include the idea of ​​sex within the poem. The man usually tries to persuade the woman to have sex because their time may end soon and the woman is generally described as a virgin. Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" and Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" introduce the idea of ​​carpe diem in distinct ways; one is unusual, the other uses common objects, such as a flower. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Both poets wrote their poetry in very turbulent times. Andrew Marvell wrote “To His Coy Mistress” in the sixteenth century. He wrote many other poems that contain metaphysical traits, consisting of presumptions and paradoxes. Some contain “Donne's verse qualities, while others have the classical qualities recommended by Jonson.” His work is however considered classic, “until the 19th century he was considered primarily a satirist”. Marvell's poetry was considered "masterful", while Herrrick's poems were overlooked by his peers. Both Marvell and Herrick were not taken seriously until the nineteenth century, when Herrick's poems were revived. Herrick was considered a "playboy", but was later revealed to be a "bachelor church official". Both men were English poets and lived in the 16th century. Now both of their poems are classics and are considered important works. Each poem reveals the idea of ​​carpe diem in different ways. “To His Coy Mistress” uses imagery that is not as common in “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.” It states that “Marvell approaches the subject with a mix of whimsical imagination and passionate urgency. Herrick offers a more traditional take on the theme, using familiar imagery to represent the passing of the seasons.” "To His Coy Mistress" compares a man's love to "vegetable love", which is an unusual statement for someone to use to declare their love. The term plant love is supposed to demonstrate that love grows over time, however, since it is a carpe diem poem, it is also used to describe how time flies quickly, so experience the good in life while you can. A rose is used by Herrick to symbolize time passing and love shared in "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time". According to Mary Ruby, "Poets who write carpe diem lyrics often use the rose as a symbol of transitory physical beauty and the finality of death." For example, the first two lines of "To the Virgins, to Buy Much Time" read: "Gather the rosebuds while you can, / The old times are still flying." This is an excellent example of carpe diem because it says that a person should enjoy life while they can because one day life will end and there is nothing more that can be done. The rose is used to show that life is not forever and that a person should make the most of the time they have left. Carpe diem poems aregenerally considered love poems. However, some of them appear to be “poems of lust.” “To His Coy Mistress” is full of lust. According to James Scruton: The subject in the poem is about sexual gratification. The speaker's premise in the first paragraph of the verse describes how quickly he would woo the lady, if he had enough time to do it properly. In the second paragraph of the verse, the premise is the blunt fact of human mutability: time is limited. In his conclusion, Marvell's speaker resolves these conflicts, at least figuratively. In many works of carpe diem poetry a man tries to convince the woman to have sex with him, and Marvell does not stray from that theme. The man in the poem only focuses on the desire he has for the woman to have intercourse with him, so the theme is more lust than love. “To the virgins, to gain a lot of time” contains the mentality of living life to the fullest. . Throughout the poem the speaker suggests that time is running out, so women must get married before they are no longer in the best stages of their lives. Herrick deduces that once a woman marries, she must lose her virginity because life is too short. The word virgin does not only refer to chaste women, but also to naive ones. Women are naive because they have not recognized the passage of time. In Herrick's poem: The virgins of the title are initiated neither sexually nor philosophically, and the speaker's aim is to persuade them to have their bodies and minds "deflowered" before they pass the point where the loss of virginity, both literal and figuratively, it will be meaningless. : an old virgin cannot have children, nor can she make up for time lost through shyness. The passage of time is inevitable, so it should be enjoyed while it is possible. According to the poem, women must get married and have sex as soon as possible, otherwise they will not have lived a fun life. Herrick's writing style is very similar to that of William Wordsworth, and is viewed differently today than it was years ago. In his “Critical Essay on 'To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,'” the author states that, “Although a modern reader may find the imagery and diction a little too quaint and the meter a little too sing-song and cute, Herrick employs in poetry the “nod to nature” technique from which Wordsworth would shape his career more than a century later.” Herrick also expresses the idea of ​​carpe diem through the seasons and a rose. Use rosebuds to represent experiences that should be had before death. Once they germinate over time, they can begin to open up to the world. Flowers will eventually grow old and no longer exist, so their beauty must be appreciated while you can. According to Daniel Moran: The opening stanza of the poem presents the rosebud as a symbol of experience, in particular, the experience that involves falling in love and losing one's sexual innocence. Note that the flower is a “bud”: a rose that blooms early and will hopefully, like the virgins themselves, no longer hide its beauty from the world. Herrick's use of “smiles” (rather than “blooms”) emphasizes the joy that will accompany the blossoming of virgins into wives. That "same flower", however, will die "tomorrow"; the speaker does not literally mean the day after it blooms, but is compressing the flower's life into a single day to emphasize the short time that nature allows all things to live. Life's experiences, including marriage and love, should be shared with the world at least once in a lifetime. “To His Coy Mistress” uses many different aspects to ensure that the reader is able to understand and appreciate the poem. For example, satire is used throughout the poem to provide a.