Seize the Day. This is most commonly known as the Latin phrase Carpe Diem. For some this is just a phrase, but in classic literature, it is a way of living and writing. This theme was revived during the Renaissance period and it made its influence in Italian, English, and French poetry. The simplest way to describe the theory of carpe diem is to say, eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you shall die. It means that life should be lived to the fullest everyday, just like it was going to be the last. The rose is a very important symbol used in literary work containing carpe diem. It is because the poet can use imagery to describe the youth and beauty of the rose, along with the death and suffering.Ronsard one of the many poets to use this theme. An example of one of his poems is Roses. In this poem he uses allegory, which is like an extended metaphor, to create the imagery of roses and to compare them to the beauty of the women he is in love with. He wants to tell her that he appreciates her beauty and that he will love her forever.In Edmund Wallers poem, Go, Lovely Rose, he compares the love of his life to a gorgeous rose. He tells her to come forth and be thankful for her great beauty. He tells her in the poem, Bid her come forth, suffer herself to be desired, and blush not so to be admired. He is trying to tell her to enjoy her beauty now, because tomorrow may be her last. He is using the rose as a metaphor for his lovers beauty.Ronsard also uses carpe diem in the poem When You are Old. The speaker of this poem is a scored, self-pitying lover. The speaker is longing for his lover to reciprocate his love. He is trying to convey to them to appreciate him now because, when he is thin and ghost beneath the earth, then they will be mourning, because they didnt take the chance while they had it. The whole concept of carpe diem reflects the larger concept with the way that time limits human life, and how it also forces one to use the ...
