TO VIRGINS TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME Robert

TO VIRGINS, TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME Robert Herrick

Biography of Robert Herrick • Clergyman and poet, Robert Herrick was born in London, the seventh child of Nicholas Herrick, a wealthy goldsmith. In November 1592, two days after making a will, his father killed himself by jumping from the fourth-floor window of his house. However, the Queen's Almoner did not confiscate the Herrick estate for the crown as was usually the case with suicides. There is no record of Herrick attending school. In 1607 he was apprenticed to his uncle Sir William Herrick as a goldsmith.

• 'A Country Life: To his Brother M. Tho. Herrick' (1610) is Herrick's earliest known poem, and deals with the move from London to farm life in Leicestershire. 'To My Dearest Sister M. Merice Herrick' was written before 1612. He entered St John's College, Cambridge in 1613, and became friends with Clipsby Crew to whom he addressed several poems such as 'Nuptial Song'. He graduated a Bachelor of Arts in 1617, Master of Arts in 1620, and in 1623 he was ordained priest. By 1925 he was well known as a poet, mixing in literary circles in London such as that of Ben Jonson. In 1629 he was presented by Charles I to the living of Dean Prior, a remote parish of Devonshire. The best of his work was written in the peace and seclusion of country life; 'To Blossoms' and 'To Daffodils' are classical depictions of a devoted appreciation of nature. However, having refused to subscribe to The Solemn League and Covenant, he was ejected from Devonshire in 1647. He then returned to London publishing his religious poems Noble Numbers (1647), and Hesperides (1648). He was distinguished as a lyric poet, and some of his love songs, for example, 'To Anthea' and 'Gather Ye Rose-buds' are considered exceptional. In 1660 he was reinstated at Dean Prior where he lived for the remainder of his life. He wrote no more poems after 1648, and is buried in an unmarked grave in the churchyard at Dean Prior.

Gather ye rose-buds 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.

• First published in 1648 this is perhaps one of the most famous poems to promote the notion of carpe diem. Carpe diem expresses a philosophy that recognizes the brevity of life and therefore the need to live for and in the moment. The phrase originates in Horace's Ode 1. 11. Horace wrote: “Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero. ” This sentence may be loosely translated as, "Seize the day rather than placing your trust in the future. " Thus, Herrick's “To the Virgins” is a lyric poem that falls into the carpe diem genre. It does not urge rash action, but it does urge readers to answer the door when opportunity knocks.

Lyric Poetry • Poetry that presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or presents a witty observation. Sonnets, odes, and elegies are examples of lyric poems. William Wordsworth, John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and William Blake are among the writers of lyric poetry. Shakespeare's sonnets are lyric poems, although his verse plays are not; they tell a story. Lyric poetry often has a pleasing musical quality. • Poetry that can be set to music. The word lyric derives from the Greek word for lyre, a stringed instrument in use since ancient times.

Source of Inspiration • Robert Herrick apparently received inspiration for his poem from lines written by Decimus Magnus Ausonius (AD 310 -394 or 395), a prominent citizen of imperial Rome • In one of his works, he wrote, "Collige, virgo, rosas, dum flos novus et nova pubes, / et memor esto aevum sic properare tuum. " In volume 2 of Ausonius: With an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn White (Loeb Classical Library), White translated these lines as, "[M]aidens, gather roses, while blooms are fresh and youth is fresh, and be mindful that so your life-time hastes away. " • It was these lines that are said to have inspired theme-setting first line of Herrick's poem, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. "

Overview • The message of this poem is telling its audience to make the most of life. It urges the reader to be proactive and don’t let life idly pass you by. In particular, young ladies, “virgins” should pursue opportunities for marriage before time turns you into old maids.

Form and structure • • Lyric poem with four verses Abab rhyme scheme Enjambment The meter of the poem varies. Most of the lines, however, are in: • iambic tetrameter (four feet) ‘Gather ye rose-buds while ye may’ • iambic trimeter (three feet) with catalexis (extra syllable at the end of a line). ‘Old Time is still a-flying; ’ First foot inversion

Meter explained • In verse and poetry, meter is a recurring pattern of stressed (accented, or long) and unstressed (unaccented, or short) syllables in lines of a set length. For example, suppose a line contains ten syllables (set length) in which the first syllable is unstressed, the second is stressed, the third is unstressed, the fourth is stressed, and so on until the line reaches the tenth syllable. The line would look like the following one (the opening line of Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18") containing a pattern of unstressed and stressed syllables. The unstressed syllables are in blue and the stressed syllables in red:

• Shall I com. PARE thee TO a SUMmer’s DAY? • Each pair of unstressed and stressed syllables makes up a unit called a foot. The line contains five feet in all, as shown next: • 1 2 3 4 5 Shall I. . |. . com. PARE. . |. . thee TO. . |. . a SUM. . |. . mer’s DAY?

• A foot containing an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable (as above) is called an iamb. Because there are five feet in the line, all iambic, the meter of the line is iambic pentameter. The prefix pent in pentameter means five (Greek: penta, five). Pent is joined to words or word roots to form new words indicating five. • Poetry lines with five feet are in pentameter. . . . Some feet in verse and poetry have different stress patterns. For example, one type of foot consists of two unstressed syllables followed by a stressed one. Another type consists of a stressed one followed by an unstressed one. In all, there are five types of feet: • • • Iamb (Iambic) Unstressed + Stressed Two Syllables Trochee (Trochaic) Stressed + Unstressed Two Syllables Spondee (Spondaic) Stressed + Stressed Two Syllables Anapest (Anapestic) Unstressed + Stressed Three Syllables Dactyl (Dactylic Stressed + Unstressed Three Syllables

• • • The length of lines–and thus the meter–can also vary. Following are the types of meter and the line length: . Monometer One Foot Dimeter Two Feet Trimeter Three Feet Tetrameter Four Feet Pentameter Five Feet Hexameter Six Feet Heptameter Seven Feet Octameter Eight Feet. Meter is determined by the type of foot and the number of feet in a line. Thus, a line with three iambic feet is known as iambic trimeter. A line with six dactylic feet is known as dactylic hexameter. Consider now the following two lines from William Blake’s poem “The Tyger”: Tyger burning bright In the forests of the night These lines contain trochaic feet–stressed + unstressed, as in TYger and BURNing– but the final foot of each line is incomplete, containing only a stressed syllable. The absence of the unstressed syllable is called catalexis, and bright and night are called catalectic feet. The meter of these lines is trochaic tetrameter–tetrameter because they each contain three complete feet and one incomplete foot, for a total of four feet.

Meter in the poem • Iambic Tetrameter 1 2 3 4 The SOON. . |. . er WILL. . |. . his RACE. . |. . be RUN, • Iambic Trimeter With Catalexis 1 2 3 And NEAR. . |. . er HE'S. . |. . to SET. . |. . ting. • The first line of the poem is a special case. It begins with a trochee (stressed, unstressed), then reverts to iambic (unstressed, stressed) feet. Tetrameter (four feet) With a Trochee and Three iambs 1 2 3 4 GATH er. . |. . ye ROSE. . |. . buds WHILE. . |. . ye MAY

Rhyme • • • There is an abab rhyme scheme Notice that in lines 1 and 3 of each stanza the rhyme involves only the final syllable of each line. This is called masculine rhyme, In lines 2 and 4 of each stanza the rhyme involves the final two syllables of each line. This is called feminine rhyme. Here is a presentation of the first stanza with the masculine rhymes highlighted in red and the feminine rhymes highlighted in blue and black. • 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 A special type of rhyme, consonance, occurs in line 9: That age is best which is the first. Consonance pairs words with different vowel sounds but the same final consonants.

Narrative stance • The first line of the poem is in second-person point of view: ‘Gather ye rosebuds’ • Lines 2 -12 are in third-person point of view ‘Old Time is still a-flyng’ • Lines 13 -16 return to second-person point of view ‘For having lost but once your prime You may forever tarry’

Grammar and syntax Find examples of the following: • Imperative mood opens and closes the poem • Declarative mood dominates the poem • Present tense • Complex sentences • Inverted syntax

Lexis • Lexical field of nature • Archaic language • Superlative adjectives

Imagery Draw symbols to illustrate the following: Metaphors • • Comparison of rosebuds to opportunities in general; specifically, comparison of rosebuds to opportunities to win a husband. Comparison of time to a flying creature (bird, insect, etc. ). Comparison of flower to a maiden. Comparison of the sun to a lamp. Personification • • Comparison of a flower to a human being. Comparison of the sun to a human being through the use of the pronouns he and his.

Phonology Alliteration Sibilance And this same flower that smiles to-day / To-morrow will be dying Aspirants The higher he's a-getting

Orthography • Ye – archaic for you

Homework LP 3/4 • • Herrick wrote his poem in an age when the top priority for a typical maiden was to marry a man of promise. Compare and contrasts these goals with the goals of a modern young woman. Write a poem with a carpe diem theme.