Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May (To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time)
DESCRIPTION: "Gather ye Rose-buds while ye may Old Time is still a-flying: And this same flower that smiles to day, To morrow will be dying." Women are told to marry before it is too late
AUTHOR: Words: Robert Herrick / one tune by William Lawes
EARLIEST DATE: 1648 (publication date, according to Wikipedia); Chappell dates the tune to 1659
KEYWORDS: marriage age warning
FOUND IN:
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Chappell-PopularMusicOfTheOldenTime, p. 362, "Gather Your Rosebuds While You May" (1 text, 1 tune)
Roud #24424
NOTES [60 words]: Traditional? I very much doubt it. But it was so often printed in "popular" sources that Steve Roud indexed it, and I am imitating that. And, of course, the first line has become proverbial.
I've made no attempt whatsoever to list all the poetry anthologies which include it; it's in almost every volume which includes seventeenth century English poetry. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.2
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