Essay English Reading

10. Explore the use and importance of symbol in one poem “Symbolism” is an important literature device; it is used to represent real things or even abstract ideas. Symbols are normally metaphorical; in poems, poets use certain terms to indicate something beyond, with another layer of meaning. In Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time”, a carpe diem, he uses several items from nature as symbols to show how women should cherish the time while they are still young and encourage them to do what they can in time. The most obvious ones are the flowers (rose-buds), which mean the young virgins’ virginity, about how fast they would no longer be “fresh” and also marriages, and the Sun, whose cycle is just like the disperse of youth. The rose-buds in the first stanza could mean young virgins’ virginity: “Gather ye rose-buds while ye may” states that flower 's life cycle is very brief; once the time passed, there would be nothing left but deadly and faded leaves. This is just as the youth of women; the speaker wishes the virgins to get hold of what being young offers and make good use of it while they can. Herrick further uses personification—smiling flowers—to provide readers a vivid image of how flowers are like young women: “And this same flower that smiles to-day/To-morrow will be dying”. From the last stanza, rose-buds could also suggest marriages.
“And while you may, go marry;
For having lost but once your prime,
You may for ever tarry.”
Here, the speaker urges young ladies to pursue marriages while they are young because once they are old, not vigorous and sweet anymore, their chances will be gone and all that is left for them is nothing but endless lovelessness , which is sorrowful. The situation is like the flowers, when flowers have just bloomed, that is the best moment to collect; the moment they start to fail, no one would ever want to take them. The virgins only have so much time to marry, just like the rose-buds are only worth picking for so

Cited: Herrick, Robert. “To The Virgins, To Make Much Of Time.” “Poetry X”. Ed. Jough Dempsey. 2004-2014. <http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/5142/>.