“The body is in no way dirty, and sex is something beautiful to give to and share with a lover. It has nothing to do with promiscuity” - Dorothy Stratten. Sex is often connotated with nudity and deemed inappropriate by society. Humanity must label everything; all situations are either appropriate or inappropriate. Ironically, everyone in society wants to fit in; yet, everyone has essentially the same basic desires as each other. Such a hypocritical system has toxified the world leading to variety of outlets to express these pent up frustrations. In the poems, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” by Robert Herrick and “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell both explores the sexual frustrations of the Renaissance period in order to convey the importance of carpe diem through the use of strategic rhyme schemes, sexual metaphors, and detailed imagery.
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Herrick’s poem is written in second person, which is uncommon in literature. The use of second person point of view represents the unusuality of the themes discussed in the poem: sex, and carpe diem. The term carpe diem comes from the Latin phrase “seize the day.” This term was coined to remind humanity to live each day without regret. In the context of “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” Herrick hints in an artistic tone that if the woman wanted to seize the day, in this exact moment, have sex with him. For example, the phrase “then be not coy” means to not be shy and “use your time” hints that she should use her time wisely (Herrick 13). It can be interpret that
Herrick’s poem is written in second person, which is uncommon in literature. The use of second person point of view represents the unusuality of the themes discussed in the poem: sex, and carpe diem. The term carpe diem comes from the Latin phrase “seize the day.” This term was coined to remind humanity to live each day without regret. In the context of “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” Herrick hints in an artistic tone that if the woman wanted to seize the day, in this exact moment, have sex with him. For example, the phrase “then be not coy” means to not be shy and “use your time” hints that she should use her time wisely (Herrick 13). It can be interpret that