To the virgins, to make much of time...by Robert Herrick

Gather ye rose-buds 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.

About the Poet

Robert Herrick (24 August 1591 – buried 15 October 1674) was a 17th-century English lyric poet and cleric. He is best known for Hesperides, a book of poems.