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1、及时行乐 文档 作者： 日期：A Study of the Carpe Diem in Two Literary Poems万彰劼（北京师范大学外国语言文学学院中国北京100875）【Abstract】Carpe diem expresses a philosophy of recognizing the brevity of life and seizing an opportunity in time. Poems then breathe wit andwisdom with the carpe diem theme running through, on the basis of wh
2、ich many distinguished Cavalier poets have created a number of masterpieces.Among them are Robert Herricks “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” and Pierre de Ronsards “To Hlne”. This essay therefore will comparethe two poems from the aspects of the message and the way they confront the fleeting na
3、ture of life through verse.【Key words】Carpe diem；Theme；Genre；Rhetorical devicesAccording to the original Latin poem by Horace, carpe diemexpresses a philosophy of recognizing the brevity of life and seizing anopportunity in time. Poems therefore breathe wit and wisdom with thecarpe diem theme runnin
4、g through, on the basis of which manydistinguished Cavalier poets have created a number of masterpieces.Among them are Robert Herricks “To the Virgins, to Make Much ofTime” and Pierre de Ronsards “To Hlne”. Accordingly, this essay willcompare the two poems from the aspects of the message and the way
5、 theyconfront the fleeting nature of life through verse.As for the messages, first of all, a noticeable resemblance is revealedby the genre of carpe diem and the subject of love in both poems.Through extolling the notion of carpe diem, messages are conveyedbetween the lines that we should make the m
6、ost of every moment. Set inthe Renaissance, both poems also underline the importance of earthlylove against shackles of the old conventions. Take “To the Virgins, toMake Much of Time” (Herrick, 130), for example: by stating that “thissame flower that smiles today tomorrow will be dying”, Herrick lam
7、entsthe lovely things, such as “youth”, which will soon disappear while timeis slipping away. Since youth and beauty wane year after year, he arguesthat maidens should not miss any opportunity to enjoy a happy maritallife. “Gather ye rosebuds,” more than any other phrase in Herrick has“worked its wa
8、y into the popular imagination evoke universal images oflove and beauty (Gertzman, 77)”. Likewise, through depicting that hislover, “crouched by the fire, an old hag”, will yearn for all that has beenlost, Ronsard perfectly conveys to readers that young women in love mustcherish the love they posses
9、s at present, in case of regrets at the lost blissin their dotage. On the whole, both deliver the message of making full useof time as well as gaining earthly love in the form of carpe diem.On the flip side, it is obvious that Herrick and Ronsard exhibitdifferent themes to readers. Take “To the Virg
10、ins, to Make Much ofTime”, for instance: it is an excellent example of the carpe diem motif,exhorting girls to “be not coy, but use your time” and “enjoy lifes joyswhile they are still young and beautiful” (Kimmel and Aronson, 131).Nevertheless, “To Hlne” (Yandell, 61) advises those in love to cheri
11、shwhat they own now, eschewing regrets of their lost sweethearts as theyage. “Blessing your name with immortal praise” in “To Hlne” provesthe romantic relationship between Ronsard and his lover, thus the poemis for a woman involving in love affairs. In spite of the same concern ofthe carpe diem phil
12、osophy and love affairs, these two poems directparticular attentions to different objects as stated above.Concerning the way to present the fleeting nature of life, bothHerrick and Ronsard fully exploit artistic conceptions with a rich flavorof life. To illustrate, the first three stanzas of “To the
13、 Virgins, to MakeMuch of Time” lay emphasis on maidens being subject to the laws ofnature, demonstrated by the images of roses and the sun. However, thelast stanza rests on instructions that beautiful maidens should not missthe chance of the halcyon days of their youths in marriage. Herrickhumorousl
14、y defines the philosophy of “seizing the day” as a result of“going marry”, a common topic towards life. Similarly, with a vividdescription of the sentimental picture “in evenings candlelight”,Ronsard presents his lovers sorrow in an artistic way. Without a maid tohelp, his lover will be engaged in n
15、eedlework herself. Even though havinglove affairs with Ronsard whose name even the sleeping handmaid marvelat, she has nothing but to repent her disdain. From an everyday scene, wecan clearly see how his lover will profess regrets. Ronsard makes animagination so as to warn his lover not to regret on the improper attitudestowards his love. Throughout the poem abound exquisite descriptionsclosely related to daily life.Conversely, different rhetorical devices are applied to present the
