O mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O stay and hear! your true-love's coming
That can sing both high and low;
Trip no further, pretty sweeting,
Journey's end in lovers' meeting—
Every wise man's son doth know.
What is love? 'tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty,—
Then come kiss me, Sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
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delicious, cynical, pessimistic, human...
From guest annarita (contact)
I love it too. We have similar lines in Italian Reinassance by Lorenzo il Magnifico: 'Quant'è bella giovinezza Che pur fugge tuttavia Chi vuol essere lieto sia Del doman non v'è certezza.... .........' (and goes on speaking of love and youth and life) -
chironsdaughter
From guest mantha stoirmeil (contact)
Oh hey -- you hear it most clearly when it falls on you. Gender has little to do with it. I sang these verses as a madrigaler when I WAS sweet and twenty; now that I am a little less sweet, but by no means bitter, and 57, here comes the winsomest twenty year old boy I've ever seen. My student, alas . . . -
Rhyme Scheme
From guest Josh (contact)
A A B C C B second stanze holds the same scheme though roaming and coming certaintly don't completely rhyme, when spoken in the right english dialect, they do. -
Lyric poem correctly quoted in its entirety
From guest maxine cassin (contact)
Thank you...... Would that it were so! -
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Romeo & Juliet?! For shame!
From guest Julia (contact)
Feste's song is directed towards Olivia in Twelfth Night. He realizes that Cesario is not only a girl but has a twin brother. "Journey's end in lovers' meeting/Every wise man's son doth know." is indicating that once they all find who it is they love that the journey will be done but that Cesario (Viola) knows this because she is constantly referring to herself as a man throughout the play. This just helps to cover it up more. This song is also more of a joke because everyone takes Feste as a big joke but he is the only one who doesn't change who he is for anyone else. Yet, he is laughing at everyone else because they're being fooled by what they see. -
From guest Frank (contact)
Of course I'm only referring to content not to metre, but I'm sure you're getting what I'm driving at. -
From guest Frank (contact)
What I don't understand: Why does he say 'Every wise man's son'? Why doesn't he say every wise man's daughter? That would be much more fitting. -
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I don't think there is anything deep or male chauvenistic here. The writer is male and is writing from the male point of view so he is describing himself in a way when he says every wise man's son.
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I think the point is missed, All this talk of love, by those still seeking
Writing line after line with hearts leaking
Paying no mind to whit
Most poems sound like shit!
Listen to the last line...Youth's a stuff will not endure. -
"youth's a stuff will not endure" nor it seems will the love on offer here. Well as the name sets a tone for the poem, the voice in this is that of an opportunist rather than that of a man deeply in love. Or then perhaps I am a cynic where it comes to words of love....
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Yipppeee!!!! William Shakespeare!!!!! Horray!!! lol..
'Carpe Diem' captivated me ever so enduring... lol. I love this!!! Mr. Shakespeare, I wish you're alive right now and I hope that guys in this modern world would speak and write poems like you did. I fell in love to your poem and I myself has my own favorite lines which are:
"What is love? 'tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty,--
Then come kiss me, Sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure."
I love this!!!! you made my heart throb!!!! Nice rhyme!!!
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i love this love poem lol
i also like the title its a great write and read. i also love his play romeo and juliette *sigh* lol
Cassie -
I can see hints of 'Romeo and Juliet' in this poem...
"Journey's end in lovers' meeting--
Every wise man's son doth know.
What is love? 'tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty,--
Then come kiss me, Sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure."
These lines deliciously paint out a lot of the 'star-crossed' conflict in his play. Magnificent read! -
this is as sweet and melodious as a poem can be...my very favorite one.
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this is one of the most beautiful love poem i have read by this great poet
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Congratulations Peacedreamer, you have started to understand this text from its context. I have studied comments by expert scholars that were more off track as you are. Of course this is not an easy text; Shakespeare's Hamlet is easier to understand as these twelve lines, but studying the comment by Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek after the song is finished, you made a promising step in the right direction. You will proceed in seven-miles paces when you find the contradiction in your analysis after your lucid comment on the third line.
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ohhh why don't the men of today speak like this.... *sigh*
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"What's to come is still unsure:
In delay there lies no plenty,-- "
when shakespeare talks about this he is refering to the blunt fact that what in life comes to you, nothing exactly is sure until the day that it awaits. when you postpone things in life, you arent sure what you are to receive and what you are to gain or loose. its one of his best in my opinion.. jen -
Strictly speaking this is not a poem - it is a song from Twelfth Night, (act 2, scene 3) sung by Feste the clown, probably the most complex and powerful character in the play. At Olivia's house Sir Toby calls for a love-song and Feste responds with this. In the play there is a break between the two verses as Sir Andrew and Sir Toby comment.
There is double entdre in the line 'that can sing both high and low' - there is the singing of the voice, high and of the penis, low.
'Trip no further pretty sweeting' go no further on your journey all the lover you want is here, this is the journey's end.
The second verse is full of the urgency of the young lover, who sees no point in waiting for fulfillment - 'what's to come is still unsure' after all, and there is nothing to gain by delay. He wants his kisses and his loving now, from his 'sweet and twenty' which refers to the age of his love. The final line has all the pathos of a such a song being sung by a mature man to world weary men - they know only too well that 'Youth's a stuff will not endure' its already long over for them. -
oh this is an awsome poem I love it. Carpe diam sieze the day. I love that saying. I remember it like almost every day. I love how he always put that 16th century into the poems and had such an english accent. I am just fascinated with him. well i g2g
Love always
Megan -
o hell yes. CARPE DIEM english class all over again. i have to say my favorite play is Romeo and Juliet. but yes i love this poem. it is super awesome. too bad shakespeare isn't still alive. omg i remember doing Macbeth....o dude we had to redo it with words that we use now or in others words translate it into present day english with guns and stuff. more modern day stuff. that wasnt too much fun. do you bit your thumb at us sir? ok um yes i am off topic. i love shakespeare he is a totally awesome dude.
Love always,
Anya~~
Edited on Apr 10, 3:13 p.m. because ''. -
philophant on Nov 18, 2003, 11:45 p.m.
pyrite eye Poet for 1061 critiques. said:
this is a darling saucy poem! oh, Shakespeare, you must have been in a good mood. He preens himself in a most delightful way: "that can sing both high and low". What a wisecracker! "Trip no further, pretty sweeting" is a quaint little line that makes you thing of a goat. hoho! so, you too, have asked the question, o "wise man's son": "What is love?" you say. Well, well. So he too was in search of that answer. And, accordingly, in a good mood, he continues with the "Eat, drink, and be merry" philosophy. I have often puzzled myself over the "sweet and twenty" line. Did he mean that his Mistress was sweet and age twenty, or did he want twenty smoochies? The "wise man's son" might of had both in mind, presumably! "Youth's a stuff will not endure". Hmm. Was he ending on a sad note, or was he laughing at himself? At any rate, this poem is one that cannot offord to be missed. And if I were the mistress, I would say this young genius could well afford to be kissed. Why, I'm sure he only had to begin serenading to be kissed - the mistresses then had not much good taste. And it seems these days his popularity has not much expanded. However, for the good old Shakespeare lovers, let us raise a toast! To youth and shakespeare's undying lines! Huzzah!
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this is a darlin old poem. i luv it like a person! yes, you can actually hear shakespear being cheeky with his mistress here... this poem is packed with philosophy and fun! long live shakespeares works
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It is a nice shakespeare poem revolving around the idea that in youth love is fleeting hence the name "Carpe Diem" (Live for the Day) I think that phrase should be recognized from "Dead Poets Society" It has a Monorime style the structure goes (A,A,B,C,C,B)
And as most Shakespeare poems go it is about the trials and tribulations of loove or love in laymans terms -
I see this to be a " Romeo and Juliet" scene. I can picture Romeo looking down at Juliet telling her these words. I am not sure exactly what is supposed to be going on here....but that is what I got from it. I like this poem tho. To me it kinda says " What if you thought something was wonderful, but then, once you had it, something else suddenly is better?"
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