TO BE MERRY Analysis

Let's now take our time,
While we're in our prime,
And old, old age is afar off;
For the evil, evil days
Will come on apace,
Before we can be aware of.

.: :.

Robert Herrick’s poem “To be Merry” is a six line poem that spreads the message “carpe diem”. Carpe diem is a Latin phrase which literally means seize the day. The interpreted meaning of the line asserts that life is short, and thus a man must enjoy while he can. Herrick advises the young reader, “Lets now take our time,/ While we’re in our prime,” to enjoy the youth and liveliness with which he is endowed. The title of the poem presents the idea of being “Merry,” which is recommended to the youthful reader because he has but a short time before the “evil, evil days/ Will come on apace.”
“To be Merry” lacks any traditional or formal structure, but it does rhyme in a pattern of aabccb. Herrick purposefully structured the poem as he did to further impose his opinion on the reader. By beginning with a suggestion to have fun and finishing with a stern warning of old age, Herrick leaves the reader worried about his imminent death. Had the poem been written in reverse order, the reader might simply dismiss Herrick’s advice. This is contrary to the traditional structure where a problem is stated in the beginning and the solution in the end. Herrick’s unconventional style reflects the modern (at the time at which the poem was written, anyway) idea of “carpe diem”. Additionally, Herrick appeals the reader’s subconscious by repeating bold words to underscore his idea. Herrick describes “old, old age,” and “evil, evil days,” to further emphasize old age’s unfavorable qualities. The poem’s warning becomes increasingly powerful in its message as it progresses, first stating the long time until a young man’s last days, then identifying them as evil, or terrible in another word, then scaring the reader by saying that the days “Will come on apace,” or come on quickly, and finishes by saying that the evil days of which he speaks will come before the reader will even know it. The colon placed at the end of the third line implies that the speaker is accurately going to tell the true meaning of his words. The speaker purposefully refers to old age as being far off to properly connect with his youthful reader, then proceeds how he actually sees old age and death.
As opposed to traditional, romanticized poems, Herrick’s “To be Merry” gives no imagery or embellished language; “To be Merry” is simply a succinct warning to the reader to enjoy his life while he can. Thus, the speaker’s tone seems desperate; the speaker is trying to quickly communicate to the reader, not wasting any time on overly describing youth, death, old age, or anything else. Additionally, the lack of formal structure and consistent meter adds to the graveness of the poem. There is no concluding couplet because each line serves the speaker’s voice and is equally important to his message. The period is usually implemented in poetry to indicate the end of a single idea, and there is but one period in the poem. Thus, the speaker’s message is, simple, clear, and singular: Enjoy life before old age. The speaker, a young man because he describes his old age and the reader’s as being far, uses the words “Let’s”, “our,” and “we,” to create a connection to the reader. One could deduce that the entire poem is an apostrophe directed to any young man who isn’t enjoying his life. Perhaps the speaker is a young man who feels unable to enjoy his own life for some unknown cause, and wishes otherwise for the reader.

| Posted on 2007-12-10 | by a guest