Gather ye rosebuds while ye may

1. The first line of the poem “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,” from the middle of the seventeenth century, by the English poet Robert Herrick. He is advising people to take advantage of life while they are young:

   Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,

   Old Time is still a-flying;

   And this same flower that smiles today

   Tomorrow will be dying.

Example Sentences

In light of what I learned from Orwell's letters and diaries and the essays, including the one that prompted me to visit the cottage where he planted the roses and the food trees, found traces of this other Orwell who actually enjoyed himself immensely, the kind of "gather ye rosebuds while ye may," carpe diem sensibility.

From Salon

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,/old time is still a-flying.

From Scientific American

It’s a sense reminiscent of the poem ‘‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.’’

From New York Times

“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may…”

From Newsweek

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,     Old time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles today     Tomorrow will be dying.

From Project Gutenberg