To the Virgins

Robert Herrick (1591–1674)

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.

The age is best which is the first,

When youth and blood are warmer;

But being spent, the worst 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.