"To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" has been recognized as an important poem that pushes beyond the boundary of the typical Cavalry lyric extolling "Carpe diem," to reflect a unique interpretation of this notion, one that unites two seemingly contradictory belief systems, pagan and Christian. In his book Poetry and the Fountain of Light, H. R. Swardson, discussing another carpe diem poem by Herrick entitled "Corinna's Going A-Maying," argues that the poem does not offer mirth and the embracing of experience as a complete and utter licence to certain freedoms, as many more typical carpe diem poems do, nor does it suggest a strict and rigid Christian moral code. Rather, it mediates between the two. While avoiding a narrow understanding of Christianity, the poem draws on "the undeniable wisdom in the Christian order of.....
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