Writing concepts and applications

¶ … Carpe Diem" by Robert Frost

Personification of Age

Chiming church bells symbolize time

Children passing symbolize time passing

"Drinking Song" by John Fletcher

Merry, boisterous tone

Caution to the wind

Quick, punchy rhyme scheme

Entertaining but less sincere than Frost

The term "carpe diem," meaning "seize the day" in Italian, encourages a person to make the most of his time while he has it. A carpe diem poem typically emphasizes the elusive or fleeting nature of time, with a particular focus on the passing of youth. In Robert Frost's "Carpe Diem," he personifies Age and places him on a road watching two children pass. Age knows not where the children are headed, but wishes them happiness regardless as those "With happiness should have it. / And yet not know that they have it" (lines 17-18). The passing of time and the innocence of youth is further emphasized by the chiming of the church bells and the "twilight" setting (lines 2-4).

John Fletcher's "Drinking Song" takes a different approach to the carpe diem theme. While Frost largely relies on the personification of age and the somewhat whimsical imagery of children and chiming church bells, Fletcher employs a merry, caution-to-the-wind tone supported by a quick, almost punchy rhyme scheme. "Best, while you have it, use your breath; / There is no drinking after death" (lines 3-4).

While both poems effectively inspire one to "seize the day," Frost's poem strikes as the more sincere and thus the more effective of the two. All the pleasures of boozing and brawling aside, Fletcher's poem fails to incite the reader to consider anything deeper than the bottom of his pint glass, while Frost's poem -- almost nostalgic in tone -- incites the reader to consider both the past he has lost, the present he is in, and the future he beholds, which is the ultimate purpose of a carpe diem poem.

Essay 2.1: Final Draft

The term "carpe diem," meaning "seize the day" in Italian, encourages a person to make the most of his time while he has it. A carpe diem poem typically emphasizes the elusive or fleeting nature of time, with a particular focus on the passing of youth. In Robert Frost's "Carpe Diem," he personifies Age and places him on a road watching two children pass. Age knows not where the children are headed, but wishes them happiness regardless as those "With happiness should have it. / And yet not know that they have it" (lines 17-18). The passing of time and the innocence of youth is further emphasized by the chiming of church bells and the setting of "twilight" (lines 2-4). Even as youth passes, so time marches on.

John Fletcher's "Drinking Song" takes a different approach to the carpe diem theme. While Frost largely relies on the personification of age and the somewhat whimsical imagery of children and chiming church bells, Fletcher employs a merry, caution-to-the-wind tone supported by a quick, punchy rhyme scheme. "Best, while you have it, use your breath; / There is no drinking after death" (lines 3-4).