Gather ye rosebuds, come what may

Robert Herrick needs updating for the 21st century

Medium author Henanksha offered a lovely meditation on time in her story, “Every second counts!” A single second holds so many contrasting meanings and possibilities.

For me, the topic and title evoked Robert Herrick’s, “To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time” —

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.

Robert Herrick, “To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time” (from Project Gutenberg)

I’m not sure if I care for Herrick’s oft-quoted poem. Beautiful, simple-seeming structure, the words grasp a certain sort of truth — “carpe diem!”

But can one actually miss out on one’s prime? If every second counts, as Henanksha posits, then one cannot distinguish ‘prime’ seconds from any others — they’re just seconds, with completely different possibilities and meanings attached.

Nostalgia for youth may grip us. But nostalgia lies. And let’s not get started on the sexist, biological ticking clock Herrick invoked.

Here’s my alternative to Herrick’s original, initially inspired by thinking about Henanksha’s perspective, but also my own:

Gather ye wisdom while ye may
The seconds are still a-flying
And that same power which laughs today
Tomorrow may be crying.

The alluring light of youth if marked
With love endowed, abetting,
Need not fade at dusk or dark
Though at risk of our forgetting.

That age is best which is this age
This moment — now — is real.
We breathe, we think, as every sage
Has done while thoughts congeal.

Be coy, or not, as you see fit
But if ye can, be merry
For sorrows can sap, or make ye quit
A race that needs your glory.

© 2023, Tom Tordillo. All rights reserved.