It was in Dead Poets Society that I have first encountered the words Carpe diem. In the movie, the main protagonist (Keating) explains the phrase Carpe diem with this sentence: “Because we are food for worms, lads. Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold and die.” (“Dead Poets Society” 14:40－14:53) That is why Keating encouraged his students to “seize the day.” But the real question is what does it take in order for an individual to seize the day? For Robert Herrick, it is “Then be not coy, but use your time: and while ye may, go marry:” (“To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”13-14). Ben Jonson suggests that “Drink to me only with thine eyes, and I will pledge with mine.” (“Song to Celia” 1-2). Edmund Waller tells us “Of beauty from the light retired: Bid her come forth, suffer herself to be desired.” (“Go, Lovely Rose” 12-14). Various writers in different works share their respective views on the challenge of Carpe diem. But the most frequent idea, to which the authors appeal all the time, is a fleeting beauty. In their works they persuade women to catch their time, while they are still young and beautiful.
“Go, Lovely Rose” is a beautiful and graceful poem written by Edmund Waller. The author, through the conversation with a rose, tries to persuade women to value the time and stimulates them to experience the joys of life. The narrator sends a rose to a “sweet and fair” lady as a certain message. In the poem the rose is personified, so the narrator has a conversation with it. He asks the rose to tell his beloved not to hide her beauty from people, as she is young and must accept all the compliments and “not blush so to be admired.” (15) Edmund Waller uses a rose in the first stanza of the poem as a symbol of a woman and indirectly expresses his appreciation towards her beauty. The author uses a prolonged metaphor in the poem and links a rose to a lovely woman. It can be seen in the first cinquain of the poem:
Go, Lovely Rose –
Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows,
When I resemble her to thee,
How sweet and fair she seems to be. (1-5)
In some of the lines, the narrator appears to be impatient and keeps mentioning the words ‘waste time.’ This suggests that he is disturbed with the girl’s hesitation to make good use of her time and her transient beauty. More importantly he is disturbed by the girl’s decision to delay important life events.
Another similar piece that is linked to Carpe diem is the poem “Song to Celia” written by Ben Jonson. The narrator of the poem addresses his words to a woman named Celia. He gently asks her to drink to him using only her eyes. He wants her to show in her eyes the word ‘Cheers’. In the poem, it is not known whether Celia reciprocates the narrator’s feeling because during the past he sent her flowers but Celia only returned them. Although her returning the flowers, these flowers never wilted. It can be inferred that Celia gave these flowers eternal life by breathing on them. The speaker’s hope that his relationship with Celia will still have a chance ‘Doth ask a drink divine; But might I of Jove’s nectar sup, I would not change for thine. (6-8)’ He does not need a drink. The cup that touched the lips of the woman is the only thing he loves. In the eyes of the speaker, Celia is special, as she has the ability to give the flowers eternal life. There may be another interpretation. When he sent ‘a rosy wreath’ to Celia, she returns it. But the narrator is sure that “Since when it grows, and smells, I swear, Not of itself, but thee.” (15-16) meaning that the flowers captured the moment (Carpe diem) of Celia’s beauty and smell.
The narrator uses in the poem a lot of imagery connected with drinking in order to describe his feelings towards Celia. He calls his love “thirst that from the soul doth rise” (5) showing that his feeling for Celia is something his body needs to stay alive. ‘Wine’ is also used as a symbol of death and can be compared to the beauty of Celia. That is why the narrator drinks it reveling in the beauty. Despite the author not talking about time directly, the poem still touches on the reality that things as well as beauty have to die and time waits for no one.
In the poem “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” Robert Herrick addresses a group of virgins. The narrator gives them a piece of advice to gather their rosebuds as soon as they can, because time waits for nobody: “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a flying; (1-2)”. In the poem the narrator observes his surrounding and notices some significant changes in the nature such as the drying flowers and the setting sun. It prompted the idea of the fleeting feature of the time:
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. (5-8)
In his opinion, youth is the best time in a person’s life and the succeeding years are not enjoyable compared to youth. At the end of the poem, the narrator tells the virgins to make good use of the time and get married. ‘Rosebud’ is a clear metaphor of marriage. The narrator wants the virgins to make the most of what they have and to understand that as time passes, people also change. No one remains constant. He wants them to realize that time is fleeting quickly and if they do not make good use of their time they will soon lose their prime, beauty and lose their opportunities.
Works Cited
The Dead Poet Society. United States. 1989. Film
Herrick, Robert. “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.” Readings for Analysis. Ed. Hugh Patterson. 1st ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 38. Print.
Jonson. Ben. “Song To Celia.” England. Print.
Waller. Edmund. “Go Lovely Rose.” England. Print.
