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.

Herrick was a minister who indulged in all of the pleasures of London, though he lived in the country.  He admired Ben Johnson greatly, becoming one of "Sons of Ben", a group of cavalier poets who idolized him.  At the end, however, he died a bachelor and again a minister (after having been expelled for political reasons).

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