Alexandra Niblo

Literary Analysis

10/23/2020

A New Way of Life

In most religions, it is seen as a sin to have sex before marriage. During the 1600s, a

woman was seen as impure and not marriage material if she had interacted in sexual

intercourse with another man that was not their husband. In modern day society, the sense of

‘waiting for marriage’ is seen as a traditional view, and is not followed as much. The poem, To

the Virgins to Make Much of Time, written by Robert Herrick, goes against the traditional and

religious views of its time and pushes for a more extroverted lifestyle that can be found in

modern day society.

Throughout the poem, Herrick is trying to tell the young women, described as rosebuds,

a different view rather than them waiting for a long time to get married and have sexual

intercourse. He encourages the women to marry soon and live their lives to the fullest. This is

because when they are young they are still at their prime. Whether this is meant that they are in

their physical prime or their fertilization prime is up for interpretation, but Herrick was probably

leaning towards a fertilization prime. When he talks about how life is short the sun was used to

represent death he explains how the rise and fall symbolized another passing day which leads

to the inevitable end. He also used a smiling flower to show how one day, all could be good and

youthful, but the next could be death and sorrow. The longer the women waited the closer they

got to the end and the closer they got to the point of possibly becoming infertal.

As Herrick's poem tested the way women acted during the time, he almost showed a

new way of life and the life women live today. He wanted women to marry young and to live

their life to the fullest. In the 1600s, women were taught to be modest and almost shy, but he

wanted them to be more extroverted and do things for themselves (to a certain degree) rather
than listening and obeying the standard ways. Women were seen as weak and had men speak

for them and make decisions for them especially with marriage and sexual intercorse. They

tended to wait for a marriage rather than jumping right into a marriage. Over time, messages

like Herrick’s have been expressed more and more which has led to the type of women that are

found in modern day society.

Women have, overtime, tended to get married at a young age, which wasn’t uncommon

in the past. The only difference is, instead of following the traditional way of waiting to have sex

before marriage has gone out the door. As it was seen as a major sin in the past, now it is seen

as more of a ‘normal’ thing to happen before marriage. It can be seen as Herrick’s want for

young women to live their lives to the fullest instead of being shy. In modern day society, the

term ‘yolo’ can also be seen as the modern version of Herrick’s message. It encourages young

people to live their lives to the fullest with the thought of you only live once and to live like there

is no tomorrow because the end is not known when to arrive.

Herrick’s message in the poem, To the Virgins to Make Much of Time, was seen as

daring and new for the 1600s. Now it can be seen as the way of life for women in modern

society with twists in the message. He promoted a life of fulfillment and excitement, rather than

a life of shyness and introverted ways. His message at the time was seen as a life on the line of

sin, it is now seen as they way women live their lives.