Understanding Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time"

This poem was originally written back in 1646 by an English poet. The original context of this poem was meant to be advice for young, virgin women to marry young while at the peck of their sexuality. Robert Herrick's "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" demonstrates how the principle of living life to its fullest applies well to the poet's own time, modern life, and dual meaning in the work.

Herrick's poem was originally written hundreds of years ago, in the style of a "carpe diem / a tool to convince virginal women to give up their virginity while they remained at their most ripe," (Brackett 1), however, it needs come to attention how different life was back in that time. During the 1600's, people lived much shorter lives with the death rate much higher due to famine. In fact, during this time few children could live to see adulthood. When the poet refers to the "gathering of the rosebuds" it is meant to be symbolic of youth and mortality (line 1). Youth like the rosebud does not last forever, therefore living life to its fullest is very important. Keep in mind, that even up until the early 1900's it was common practice to marry at a young age, with single women in their twenties being called old maids. The poem states "then be not coy/And while ye may go marry (13-15). In other words, young women should not be afraid to marry early while their prospects are at their greatest, it is far better to marry young in life than to wait until they are less desirable in most bachelor's eyes.

The main point of the poem is to live life to its fullest, this is something many of us do not think enough about. So many of us waste our time focusing heavenly on work and daily errands that we fail to take a step a back to look at the big picture. According to the poet, "Time is still a-flying;" (2). A statement that is true even to today, no matter the century, era, or decade time will always fly no matter what we are doing. 'as the same flower that dies today, tomorrow will be dying" refers to the fact nobody is promised another day alive on this earth, therefore, we must strive to make the most of our lives by putting great importance on making meaningful memories and spending time with family members (3-4). Humans beings do not have forever so the emphasis must be put making the most of today.

There is a lot of dual meaning in this poem that one can comprehend in a variety of ways. The word virgin in the title does refer to its literal meaning, however, this same word could be used to describe someone trying some completely new to them. For example, this could apply to starting college, getting a new job, or even just something as simple as learning to swim. The line in the final stanza, "Then be not coy," refers to giving up being shy or hesitant in favor of acting more adventurous and outgoing to truly make the most of life (13). A Christian viewpoint is also present in the poem with the line, "And while ye may, go marry;" (14). His religious beliefs were the reason he felt the need to change the traditional carpe diem to state the need to marry before having intercourse. This can also reflect the need to consult one's personal beliefs before fully throwing caution to the wind.

"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" is meant to be advice for living life to its fullest. While its original context of doing so by marrying early in life, is no longer relevant to the modern-day life, the main point and dual meaning still holds value. This motto should be taken to heart for people to make the most of their lives while possible. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow so we must act today to improve make improvements to make the most of life.