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To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time | Summary

Lines 1–4
In the opening stanza, the poet articulates the carpe diem tenet that urges one to “Seize the Day.” The gathering of roses is a metaphor for living life to the fullest. The image of roses suggests a number of things: roses symbolize sensuality and the fulfillment of earthly pleasures; as vegetation, they are tied to the cycles of nature and represent change and the transience of life. Like the “virgins,” the roses are buds, fresh, youthful and brimming with life; youth, like life, however, is fleeting. Marked by brevity, life is such that one day one...

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To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time: Introduction
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To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time | Summary

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