To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time Questions



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To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

by Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles today

Tomorrow 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 forever tarry.

Question #1: What warning does the author impart in lines 3-4? In your opinion what message is the speaker trying to convey in the first stanza?

Vocab:

1. COY:

2. TARRY:

3. PRIME:

Robert Herrick, a Cavalier Poet:

Cavalier:

-marked by or given to off-hand and often disdainful dismissal of important matters.

Synonyms: _________________ or ____________________ or ________________________

Cavalier Poets:

-a group of English poets associated with Charles I and his exiled son. Most of their work was done between c.1637 and 1660. Their poetry embodied the life and culture of upper-class mixing complexity with simplicity, elegance with raciness. Writing on the courtly themes of beauty, love, and loyalty, they produced poetry, expressed with wit and directness.

• How does the Latin concept of Carpe Diem link to the themes of the Cavalier Poet?

Question #3: In the third stanza of “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time,” Herrick writes about, “the worst and the worst times. What does this statement mean in your own words AND how does it link to the work as a whole?

Question #2: In the second stanza, what metaphor does the speaker use to describe the sun? How does the path of the sun reinforce the speaker’s message? Use the diagram to explain. Please label the diagram.

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