In four pages 'The Flea' by Donne is compared with 'To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time' by Herrick in terms of the poets' arguments of seduction and application of carpe diem. There are no other sources listed.
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a great deal of their poetry. The phrase suggests that one should make the most of lifes opportunities and savor the moment, since life is fleeting. Herricks poem "To the
Virgins, to Make Much of Time" and Donnes "The Flea" make use of the carpe diem theme to create highly persuasive seduction arguments. Herricks poem begins "Gather ye rosebuds
while ye may, / Old time is till a-flying, /And this same flower that smiles today/ Tomorrow will be dying" (lines 1-4). By using an analogy that invokes springtime images,
Herrick stresses the fleeting nature of youth. Nothing is more beautiful, yet fades and dies more quickly then a rose. The implication is that while the young virginal women to
whom the poem is addressed are but "rosebuds" today, tomorrow will see their beauty, and youth, start to fade. The second verse reads: "The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,/
The higher hes a-getting," (Herrick lines 5-6). This analogy reiterates the idea from the first stanza that emphasizes the inevitable passage of time. The sun is already in its ascendancy,
climbing toward the noon, the "mid-point" in lifes "day." Herrick then stresses that the latter part of life will come much sooner than these young women can now realize. "The
sooner will his race be run, / And nearer hes to setting" (lines 7-8). In this manner, Herrick sets up an ever-increasing sense of urgency, making it seem as if
old age and death are imminent for these young women. He drives this point home in the next verse where he argues that youth is the best time of
life, when the "blood" is "warmer" (line 10). In the final verse, he urges the young "be not coy, but use your time" and go "marry," because -- having lost