Carpe Diem Analysis

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Is carpe diem out-of-date or old fashion?
Carpe diem is certainly out-of-date. However, to answer the question of whether or not carpe diem is old fashion, you must first look at the meaning of this well-known phrase. What does it mean? Carpe diem translates to “seize the day”. How often do you actually hear someone use this phrase? How often do you, yourself, use the phrase? Be honest with yourself.
Carpe Diem was “in fashion” when humans had a much shorter lifespan. They considered living until 35 a huge miracle. Now a day, we can live past 100 years old. That is a 65-year difference! While they had very few days to seize, we have much more. Let us do the math. If someone lives 35 years, he or she would live at least 12,775 days. …show more content…

You now see it used as a justification for rash actions. YOLO is the modern day carpe diem. Both phrases are used before or after someone does something completely irrational and potentially dangerous. For example, you may see a social media post along the lines of “I know I should be studying instead of going to a huge party with alcohol the night before an exam, but you know what they say: Carpe diem! Seize the day!" or “Underage drinking at a party tonight! YOLO”. It is almost as if the phrase is a completely new phrase with a completely new meaning. In the older times, it was used in beautiful poems. If the phrase itself was not in the literature, the idea of it was. For example, the poems “To the Virgins to Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick and “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell include carpe diem. In Herrick’s poem, he used the idea of carpe diem in his entire poem. He elaborates the fact that they are dying with the lines “this same flower that smiles today tomorrow will be dying”(Herrick 3-4) and “The higher he’s a-getting, The sooner his race will be done, And nearer he’s to setting”(Herrick 6-8). He follows with the line “then be not coy, but use your time” (Herrick 13). He is using the idea of carpe diem to seduce the woman but he goes around it with the notion that she is running out of time and tomorrow is not promised so she should use the time left wisely and act soon. In Marvell’s

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