Carpe Diem Poetry

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Song speaks of the narrator commanding a rose to go deliver a message of the urgency of his love to his love; "Go, lovely rose!" The rose is a symbol of love and beauty. In this case, in the first stanza, the narrator is telling his girl how beautiful he thinks she is; "When I resemble her to thee, How sweet and fair she seems to be."

In the second stanza, he's asking the rose to tell her that she should not "shun to have her graces spied" as her beauty should not be hidden anymore. He thinks that her beauty should be praised and admired or it will fade without fulfilling its purpose; "where no man abide, Thou must have uncommended died."

In the third stanza, he is telling her that there is no worth in hiding her beauty; "Small is the worth Of beauty from the light retired." He wants her to step out into the light and allow herself to be desired without feeling embarrassed; "Bid her come forth, Suffer herself to be desired, And not blush so to be admired." He wants her to feel proud that she is admired and "not blush."

He ends of with emphasising that at the end of the day, "the common fate of all things rare" is death, which means that beauty fades. The beauty that "they (the rose and the girl) share That are so sweet and wondrous fair!" only lasts for "small a part of time."

This entire poem talk about how beauty fades with time. Thus, like any carpe diem poetry, one is urged to cherish time. In this case, beauty is associated with time and the narrator believes that both should be cherished with the same intensity. There is a tone of urgency to find physical love, as the narrator only addresses physical beauty, which fades. He wants the girl to learn to be "desired" and "admired" while she is still beautiful.

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...it will be gone forever, "For, having once but lost your prime, You may forever tarry."

There is also a standard structure in this poem, with the second and last line of each stanza shorter than the other two. It uses half-rhyme, creating an "a, b, a, b" rhyme scheme which adds speed to the entire poem. This, in turn, re-emphasises the fact that time is ticking away and we need to make the best out of our youth and regret not in the future. I find this second poem easier to grasp, mainly due to the references and comparisons to tangible things. I guess the subject matter also appeals more to me, as the subject matter in "Song" gives me an impression that from the physical love he is looking for in the girl, he is not serious about her. As for "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time", it is purer, warning readers to be more careful in what one does with his youth.

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