Lines 1–4
In the opening stanza, the poet emphasizes the carpe diem philosophy, urging us to "Seize the Day." The act of gathering roses serves as a metaphor for living life to its fullest. The imagery of roses conveys multiple meanings: they symbolize sensuality and the enjoyment of earthly pleasures; as plants, they are connected to natural cycles and signify change and life's fleeting nature. Just like the "virgins," the roses are buds—fresh, young, and full of life; yet, youth, like life, is transient. Life's brevity is such that one day brings joy, as the smiling flower suggests, and the next brings death. The poet highlights the fleeting nature of human existence. Like the rose, the virgins addressed by the speaker, and by extension the reader, are destined to share the rose's fate.

Lines 5–8
In these lines, the poet elaborates on the theme of fleeting time and life's brevity. The sun's movement across the sky underscores the passage of time, as the sun has historically been a literal timekeeper (consider a sundial). Traditionally, the sun symbolizes warmth, light, and vitality: it is a life-giving force that nurtures growth in nature. However, the setting sun introduces a foreboding image, lending a darker tone to the poem: it is a traditional symbol of death. Like the rose, the personified sun and its journey across the sky serve as a metaphor for humanity and its inevitable fate.

Lines 9–12
In the third stanza, the poem's speaker offers wise advice, seemingly gained through life experience, to the naive virgins. Observing that youth, a time when one's blood is "warm" and desires are easily aroused, is the "best" period of life, evokes the carpe diem theme, suggesting that one should revel in this phase by indulging in it. However, in the final two lines of the stanza, the speaker introduces a notably ironic and unromantic twist to the idea of pursuing love, suggesting that love is not a way to escape death. Instead, the realist suggests that love must be pursued because it holds a significant role in life. It does not prevent death, as indicated in lines eleven and twelve, but it occupies an important place in one's life journey, which ultimately ends in death.

Lines 13–16
The final stanza of the poem connects the natural cycles of life and death with the rituals and ceremonies of Christian worship, thereby adding a distinctive element to the carpe diem theme. In this stanza, the speaker encourages the virgins, symbolizing all the young and inexperienced, to seek love and the "natural" union of marriage within the Christian context. By advocating for marriage, the speaker introduces a religious and moral dimension to the pursuit of pleasure and the immediate fulfillment of one’s desires, as suggested by the carpe diem philosophy.