A Selection from the Lyrical Poems of Robert Herrick

140. TO THE VIRGINS, TO MAKE MUCH OF TIME

     Gather ye rose-buds while ye may:
     Old Time is still a-flying;
     And this same flower that smiles to-day,
     To-morrow 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 for ever tarry.