To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

Robert Herrick, 1648

 

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.