To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick

Summary: To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick is a poem that pushes one to make most of their life before their maximum potential is lost

Characters: The Speaker

Verse 1:

  • The speaker relates time to rosebuds and to gather "rosebuds while ye may"
  • For if you wait too long, the rosebuds that were there for the picking may die

Verse 2:

  • The speaker relates time to the rising and the setting of the sun
  • The speaker warns that the sun will rise only so much before it sets

Verse 3:

  • The speaker is telling us that we have more life in us when we are younger and that when youth is "spent" things get "worse" and "worst"

Verse 4:

  • The speaker tells the audience to "use your time" in it's prime for it only comes but once

Other Notes:

  • The speaker may be older and that's why he knows to tell the audience to take advantage of their youth and their prime
  • The speaker issues an invitation to more than not, share the way he feels
  • The audience may consider this an epigram because of its rhyme and meter

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