ROBERT HERRICK 1591-1674

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TO THE VIRGINS, TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, 

  Old Time is still a-flying: 

And this same flower that smiles to-day 

  To-morrow 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 for ever tarry. 

This English lyric poet and critic is best known for his book of poems Hesperides and of those poems To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time is the most popular.

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