Carpe Diem Poetry
The seventeenth-century British poet Robert Herrick wrote many poems exemplifying carpe diem (Latin for "seize the day"). Carpe diem is the attitude of one who lives for the day, who responds to the phrase "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow you will die" by living it up immediately. Here is a carpe diem poem by Herrick:
I fear no earthly powers,
But care for crowns of flowers;
And love to have my beard
With wine and oil besmear'd.
This day I'll drown all sorrow:
Who knows to live tomorrow?
Please comment on how this lyric expresses the attitude of carpe diem. Also comment on the sound of the three rhyming couplets in this six-verse lyric and how the sounds reinforce the "live it up today" attitude.
Andrew Marvell is another of several seventeenth-century British poets who expressed carpe diem in his poetry. One of Marvell's best examples of this attitude is "To His Coy Mistress."
posted by John Bailes at
Thursday, October 26, 2006
12 Comments:
Carpe Diem fear no one on this earth and his needs comes first. Bread could be something else like money, he loves his money while dinking his fine wine, today i won't think about all of my sorrow because i never know what tomorrow brings. AB--
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
Herrick is obviously one of the believers in the "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow you will die" way of life. He choses not to fear death but to seize the day for his own and take part in the pleasures of life. The short length of this poem also goes with the "seize the day!" attitude. Herrick hasn't the time to be bothered with writing lengthy poetry because if he is going to die tomorrow, he wants to make sure that he has a damn good time today.
By
Tinamari, at October 27, 2006
Carpe diem is to sieze the day. The poem expresses this attitude in its verses. The author notes that he cares about the little things when he talks about the crowns of flowers. How many times have you walked by flowers without noticing them. If it were your last day to live you might look at everything different. Then the author talks about enjoying things that he likes every day when he talks about having his beard with wine and oil in it. The poem ends with a question. This question is the main reason for carpe diem. Who knows to live tomorrow? No one except the people on death row know when there time on earth will be over. So sieze the day.
Matt H
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
He is saying that,Who knows if your going to live tomorrow so go ahead and live life up to the fullest while you can. Maybe he doesn't have any morals and he doesn't care if he lives or dies.He probably sees that life is too short and doesn't want to regret not doing everything he really wanted to do. -Jillian
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
He likes cookies.
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
He likes wine with his cookies!
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
Seize the Day! We have all heard this phrase once or twice in out lifetime. It means to live it up for tomorrow will never come. In this poem, the author says that he does not fear death, but that he does care for life. He celebrates life at every moment because you can never be sure when life will end! M
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
Robert Herrick is saying that it is important to live your life for today because tomorrow is not promise to you. So enjoy you life to the fullest and try to do all the things that are pleasing and rewarding not just for yourself but for others. Take time and really enjoy life, even the rain because something good can come out of it. So live, love and be happy. MariaF
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
Carpe diem, latin for seize the day, is the way of life for many people in todays society. I have lived that way for sometime now. "Love to have my beard with wine and oil besmear'd". You cant just have one thing you have to have everything with it. It is so hard to visulize what tomorrow will bring but it is certain to know what today will bring. The rhyming of this poem is in a flow of a marching army on the way to battle thinking they have already won. They see know but not tomorrow. "CARPE DIEM"
-Joseph Yerbey-
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
I think everyone should have this attitude "carpe diem" Sieze the day! Because if everyone would live life to the fullest, and not worry about tomorrow then everyone would be having the best day of their life, everyday! I try to keep that in mind, knowing that anything could happen to me and keep my "live like I was dying" attitude! If I had that attitude all the time I'de definitly be living it up! So live life day to day to it's fullest, love everyone as much as you can for tomorrow isn't promised to you!
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
I totally agree with Carpe Diem. I think everyone should life to the fullest. In this life, we should live with love, dignity, respect, and having honesty toward one another. Matthew 6:25 says, " Therefore I tell you do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes ? vs 34 says, " Therefore do not worry about tommorrow, for tomorrow will woory about itslef. Each day has enough trouble of its own".
Live each day s if it is your last.
By
Anonymous, at October 27, 2006
Thad Myers
What would have happened if the emancipation proclamation had not been established? As we all know when the civil war began, Abraham Lincoln had one real goal and that was keeping the Union together while at the same time convincing the Confederacy to join back with the Union. As the war progressed, the Confederacy began look to support from Great Britain and France as a means to help them win the war. Just when the Confederacy seemed destined to receive aid from Great Britain, Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation which effectively ended both any chances of European powers joining on the side of the Confederacy and at the same time ensuring victory for the Union. But what if the emancipation proclamation had not been signed and instead of Great Britain or France avoiding the war they join with the Confederacy and together defeat the Union. As odd as this may sound there was a very real possibility of Great Britain in particular joining the Confederate states of America and if they had happened the very outcome of the United States and the even the world have been very different than what it is today.
The likely hood of Great Britain joining the war was inevitable. So much so that the Confederacy believed that Britain’s naval fleet would allow safe passage of the Confederate ships to allow for trade with Europe and possibly a chance to win the war. The British had a number of reasons to support the new republic. For one after revolutionary war, Great Britain, was embarrassed by the fact that they had been beaten by a rag tag group of rebels and were more than ready for there revenge. They would get that chance in the war of 1812 in which the United States try to reclaim Canada from British control. The British still eager for revenge burned the capital and by 1815 the war was over. Another contributing factor was the fact that once the war had started, almost the entire Confederacy’s supply of tobacco and cotton was being exported to Britain and the rest of Europe. Unfortunately for the Confederacy, the Union blockade prevented a majority of the exports from reaching their destination. Probably the defining moment in the war was when two Confederate diplomatic agents on a British merchant ship called the Trent were seized by the USS San Jacinto in international waters. This sparked outrage in Britain and request that the United States release them and offer a formal apology within seven days or else. The US met the deadline and the best chance for the British joining the war had past.
Abraham Lincoln understood the possibility of Great Britain joining the war and what effect it would have on his country. The decision came to offer the Confederacy a chance to rejoin the Union by the end of 1862 and when no southern states did, Lincoln ordered the emancipation proclamation which proclaimed that the war was not only about rejoining the Confederacy into the Union but now was for freeing all the slaves. The emancipation proclamation turned the war into almost a moral crusade and helped to revitalize the war effort as well as gaining international support and undercut support for confederate independence. This decisive move meant that the British could no longer interfere with the war effort. Great Britain had abolished the Trans Atlantic slave trade and any attempt to interfere in this noble war would be looked down upon by the rest of Europe. The emancipation proclamation turned the war into almost a moral crusade and helped to revitalize the war effort in the north.
But what if Abraham Lincoln hadn’t sign or even thought up the emancipation proclamation? What would have happen to the course of history? Well Great Britain would have probably recognized The South as the Confederate States of America and after that the breaking off of relations between Washington and London. This would undoubtedly leave the long border with British Canada exposed and a variable week point for the US. Commerce between the United States and Europe would come to a halt and the United States would be begin to run out of supplies such as grain and flour not to mention any military aid once bound for the United States would instead be going to the Confederacy. Despite the blockade of the Confederate port cities, some British merchants would try and sell their goods anyway regardless of the blockade. It would be only a matter of time until these ships were either impounded capture or sunk which would almost certainly lead to the loss of British sailors. This would soon follow with the Royal navy being sent along to ensure that no ships were captured by the blockade. Confrontations would arise and eventually the navies would engage in fighting and it would be a matter of time until it spread to the mainland and all out war between the two. This would be a difficult situation for the Union; they would be sandwiched between two enemies with no real place to go. They couldn’t flee to the East because of the British navy the North would be British Canada and with Indian tribes to the West and the Confederate States of American to the South the Union would quickly become overwhelmed. This move could have resounding effects in Europe as well. What part could France and even Russia play in this since they would have agreed with the emancipation proclamation would they have come to the aid of the United States?
As different those the short term effects would be imagine the long term effects if the South had won the civil war. Would the Union still exists and therefore have two countries today? If there were two countries in this space who would control what would happen to the rest of the continent? If the South did win the war they could potentially expand their cotton plantations into the Midwest and possibly to the Pacific Ocean depending on if they could scale the continental divide. The northern states could take the upper part of the continent and could still share a border with British Canada. Due to economic restraints and the fact that cotton and tobacco would become less popular, slavery in the South would probably have been abolished. But this would be unlikely to harm the
Confederate states of American when they would find oil in the plains and especially in present day Texas. Another possibly would be what would happen if Great Britain had decided to not aid the South in the war and come back with different intentions. Instead of Britain aiding the South, they actually lead an attack on the Union and a withering Confederacy in an attempt to reclaim the colonies. The chances of this tactic being successful with a war torn country and two adversaries that had already been involved in heavy combat and seen heavy losses was very possible. IF Britain had decide to attack they could have easily broken the border in British Canada which would have quickly sandwiched the North between the British in the North and the Confederacy in the South. With the Unions forces directed towards the South, the British could have easily invaded the Union and surrounded the Union armies in Virginia. Washington would likely be burn again and the Union would have to surrender to the British but would happen to South? The British could have very well ended the advance at the northern colonies but seeing weakness in the Confederacy as well as seeing the potential of its cotton and tobacco plantations, they would probably continued the advance. The conquest of the Southern States would take less time then that in the North due to the South lack of industrialization and it would be a matter of months until the South had fallen to Great Britain. This would be a vital asset to the British crown, if they had reclaimed the colonies they could ensure that the profit being generated by the South when they exported tobacco and cotton would go straight to Great Britain which could be used to rebuild after the Napoleonic wars.
The South winning the war could have unexpected but overall beneficial effects for the countries and maybe even the world as a whole. Between the countries the Old South such as Charleston, South Carolina as well as other southern cities might have had better race relations than in the Northern cities. Some southerners believe they have a special relationship with African Americans based on the many generations of salivary in which they stayed together at close quarters. The damage to race relations in the South would be kept down to a minimum mainly because the real damage done to race relations was not slavery but rather the reconstruction period that followed. This would never happen if the South had one the war and in comparison the civil rights movement may have never happened either. This could have meant that the radical movements such as the KKK and other white supremacist groups would have been virtually no existent. Another factor that may have played into consideration imagines if the North and South were two different countries. This could mean any number of changes to history. Take for example the migration of African Americans to the Northern states at the outbreak of world war two. IF the South had won the war this would mean they would have to go to Northern cities to avoid the war. This could drastically change the social outlook on Northern cities such a New York.
What would have happened if the north had lost? If the north had lost the idea of living under the iron rule of an all powerful federal government, as we all do now. The North night be either the loss to the south would give states right a boost in both the north and south and the tenth amendment might even have some force left in the north. Could it be possible that both of the countries be republics instead of a single empire? This transformation could be traced all the way through World War I which might have not even occurred. Great Britain and France probably would have sympathized with the South; however the North with its large German population, would probably side with the Kaiser. If America had never entered World War I then the likelihood of Communism in Russia would be slim. Once more another effect would be that if American had ever entered the war that would mean that Germany wouldn’t have lost World War I and could have possibly avoided one of the worst genocides in human history. If Germany had won the war the chances of Hitler coming to power and beginning the holocaust and World War II would have been very unlikely. If Germany had not begun World War II then what would that have done for the world in the Pacific. If Germany had not entered the war would that have resulted in Japan still attacking Pearl Harbor? It was predicted by scholar’s that a war between America and Japan would occur in the near future but if American had never been a part of the first World War then the probability of the Japan attacking America would be greatly reduced. If Japan had never attacked America then the primary reason for the United states development of an atomic bomb would have been ruined. Not to mention the fact that even though the United and Confederate states of America would still be world powers it would be highly unlikely that either of the two countries would have the resources available to produce the elements for the worlds first atomic bombs. If they were unable to produce an atomic bomb and the war still broke out in Europe than they would be at a strategic disadvantage research has shown that Hitler was in development of an atomic bomb as well and could have if given enough time could have used it on either Great Britain or the United States.
In conclusion, there is an overwhelming amount of information to come to the conclusion that the emancipation proclamation has had a profound effect on both American history and world history. This single action by a single man has ensured that at least one country would remain together and help to ensure his own place in history as the man that kept the country from splitting. It hard to imagine the world without the United States or a United States of America and a Confederate States of American ruling the Western hemisphere. The fact that one event in history can have such an effect on the rest of the world and hold literally the lives of millions and determine whether they live or die.
By
Anonymous, at December 08, 2006
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