Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May

To the Virgins, to make much of Time 

- Robert Herrick

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,    
  Old Time is still a-flying:    
And this same flower that smiles to-day    
  To-morrow will be dying.    

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,            
  The higher he 's a-getting,    
The sooner will his race be run,    
  And nearer he 's to setting.    

That age is best which is the first,    
  When youth and blood are warmer;     
But being spent, the worse, and worst    
  Times still succeed the former.    

Then be not coy, but use your time,    
  And while ye may, go marry:    
For having lost but once your prime,     
  You may for ever tarry.