poem

To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time: My Reply

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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.

Source: The Norton Anthology of Poetry Third Edition (1983)
My Reply:
 
From The Virgins, Making Much of Time
 
The blooming rosebuds have gathered
Fresh, young not withered.
The same flower that smiles
With seconds of a thousand miles.
 
Yes, the fiery ball of fire
High above and rises
Shall also bend lower.
But we say there are still doses
Of sunlit-kissed petals
Glittering with crystals.
 
Yes, the purest is best
Naive; and blood is warmest.
But it takes hours to choose and see
To give our pollen to any bee.
(Tick tock will stop.
Old Time will drop.)
 
Yes we're not coy, we use time wisely.
Making sure we won't marry
To just anybody.
Because love is prime
So we don't press time.
Than to marry
And be sorry.
 
Jong
 

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