A churchyard in France—the last rose of summer. “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.” Paul Goldfinger ©

By Charles Layton, formerly Editor @Blogfinger:

Good morning, class. Today we’ll study the poetic tradition known as carpe diem, which means “seize the day.”  It’s a phrase from the Roman poet Horace, who felt that life is short and unpredictable so let’s bring and make love and party on.

The poet Robert Herrick was in this tradition when he wrote his poem “To the Virgins, to Make much of Time.”  Its most famous line is Gather ye rosebuds while ye may. But it’s not about gardening.

Here is an American popular song in the carpe diem tradition. It’s been recorded by Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin, Roberta Flack and Wynton Marsalis. Johnny Harman sang it on the soundtrack to the movie The Bridges of Madison County. I especially like the concluding lines:

Susannah McCorkle: