Love Poem - Anthony Tamasi

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Robert Herrick

Gather ye rosebuds 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.

Herrick describes love as something that should happen right away when one is young, before having "lost but once your prime." He asserts that life goes too fast, that while one that "smiles today // Tomorrow will be dying." This pessimistic attitude towards life contributes to his argument that one should marry early or they will forever be alone, waiting for love to find them once they are out of their prime.

I do not agree with this attitude; it does not matter when you marry I believe once you are a financially independent individual. Everyone is different and love comes at different times for everyone. Not everybody will find the love of their life when they are in their early 20s. The world is big and sometimes it takes a little longer, perhaps until you are out of your prime. But whether you are in your prime or not does not matter either, because true love, what marriage should be based around, is accepting of someones imperfections. 

Herrick, Robert. "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time." Literature and Composition. By Carol Jago. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2011. 672. Print.