Quinus Horatius Flaccus Analysis

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A man named Quintus Horatius Flaccus came up with the phrase carpe diem which was to help people try new things while Marvell twisted it until it was almost unrecognizable. Some of the examples to support this are if you were given unlimited time on this earth, you knew you would never become apart of the ground, or growing old wasn't a fear would then that and only that would be the reason to not sleep with someone right away. Thus revealing the speaker’s manipulation of the carpe diem motif.
The very first occurrence of the speaker manipulating the carpe diem motif is located in the opening two lines. Andrew Marvell writes that “Had we but world enough, and time, / This coyness, lady, were no crime.” The image this projects is if we have unlimited time in the world we wouldn't have to hurry up with sleeping together, but as the next stanza proves we don't. Since we don't have all the time in the world the speaker believes there's no point in waiting. He says that they should start sleeping together sooner rather than later. Which the speaker translates to “ And your quaint honour turn to dust, / And into ashes all my lust. / The grave's a fine and private place, / But none I think do there embrace.” This is kinda changing the intended use of carpe diem to get a girl to sleep …show more content…

The speaker explains they will soon be nothing but dirt on in the ground and the worms will be crawling all over their bodies. The speaker summarizes this in the text "Thy beauty shall no more be found, / Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound / My echoing song: then worms shall try / That long preserved virginity, / And your quaint honour turn to dust, / And into ashes all my lust". Meaning If she stays pure for too long and dies she would of stayed pure for no reason. The speaker was again hoping this would convince her to sleep with

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