Poetry

The inexorable passage of time and corollary facets of change, mortality, memory, and nostalgia are rich themes in literature and, particularly, in poetry. Poetry, in the Aristotelian sense, seeks to recreate human experience and capture both its sensory and abstract essence. Unlike prose, poetry relies on a separate set of conventions emphasizing rhythm and sound patterns as well as figurative language and symbolism to achieve a multilayered effect. Common symbols evoking associations with time include references to the phases of the moon and tides, the rising and setting of the sun, the cycle of seasons, and shifting sand in its natural state or as a calculation of time through an hourglass. Such concrete references intensify awareness of the inevitable passage of time, which, although an abstract concept, is measured concretely through human constructs.

A common theme in Western poetry is carpe diem, or “seize the day.” This metaphor is derived from the Latin carpere, “to pluck or grab,” and die, meaning “day.” The phrase is generally attributed to the Roman lyric poet Horace (65 BCE-8 BCE) also known as Quintus Horatius Flaccus. Horace used metaphors from nature to advise against procrastination and urged his readers to enjoy the present, “Be wise, strain the wine; and since life is brief, prune back far-reaching hopes! Even while we speak, envious time has passed: Pluck the day, putting as little trust as possible in tomorrow” (“carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero”). This view focuses on the present and encourages making the most of each day and stage of life. The adage has often been extended to embody a hedonistic sense of enjoying pleasure without concern for the future, because time, and ultimately death, are destroyers of life's joys.

The carpe diem theme was popularized during the European Renaissance (14th to 17th centuries), which saw a rebirth in learning and emphasis on humanism. This intellectual revolution was marked with great achievement in art, music, and literature. It also followed the devastating Black Plague of the 14th century, which wiped out at least one third of the population of Europe from Italy to Norway. The suffering and fragility of human life, as well as its potential for great accomplishment, made carpe diem an anthem to life and living it fully.

English poet and play wright William Shakespeare (1564–1616), long considered one of the greatest writers in the English language, often reflected on mortality and the overarching power of time in his sonnets and plays. His 38 plays were written predominantly in iambic pentameter, or blank verse, as were his 154 sonnets. In Sonnet 18, Shakespeare uses his pen to defy time and bring immortality to his love: “So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.” In Sonnet 30, Shakespeare expresses remorse over [Page 1021]wasted time: “When to the sessions of sweet silent thought/I summon up remembrance of things past/I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,/And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste.” But knowledge of mortality can even intensify love, as in Sonnet 73: “This thou perceivest, which makes thy love more strong/To love that well which thou must leave ere long.” And Sonnet 45 expresses human resistance, as well as powerlessness, against the ravages of time: “And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence/Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence.”

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