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fandomhigh2010-07-14 12:18 pm
carpe_demon) wrote in fandomhigh2010-07-14 12:18 pm
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Carpe Diem: Making Your Lives Extraordinary, Period 4, Class 2
Drake had a large painting hanging in the front of the room. Shhh. He'd return it to the Odon Wagner Gallery in Toronto when class was over, and they'd never know it was missing. As soon as the class had all arrived, he began to recite:
"That poem is called 'To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,' by Robert Herrick in the 17th century," Drake explained. "The poem is an example of the genre carpe diem, which is of course Latin for seize the day. And for the purposes of this class, we're going to just gloss over the fact that in Elizabethian slang, 'dying' means both death and having an orgasm. Anyway! Carpe diem expresses a philosophy that recognizes the brevity of life and therefore the need to live for and in the moment. The phrase originated over 2000 years ago with Horace, who wrote: 'Carpe diem quam minime credula postero' -- meaning 'Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.' The future is unknowable, so live it up now while you can.
"Now, I'm not totally down with Horace because he seems to be advising that you shouldn't have any hopes for the future," Drake went on. "Instead, I'm going to go with my man James Dean here: 'Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.' Now, last week I asked you about things you wanted to do before you died, but I don't think there was a lot of day-seizing going on there yet. So let me ask you this time: tell me something you regret. Is there an action that you wish you had taken -- or not taken -- in the past? An opportunity you passed up on that you wished you had taken? If you could have done something differently -- and let's make this something you conceivably could have done differently -- what would it be?"
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.
"That poem is called 'To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time,' by Robert Herrick in the 17th century," Drake explained. "The poem is an example of the genre carpe diem, which is of course Latin for seize the day. And for the purposes of this class, we're going to just gloss over the fact that in Elizabethian slang, 'dying' means both death and having an orgasm. Anyway! Carpe diem expresses a philosophy that recognizes the brevity of life and therefore the need to live for and in the moment. The phrase originated over 2000 years ago with Horace, who wrote: 'Carpe diem quam minime credula postero' -- meaning 'Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.' The future is unknowable, so live it up now while you can.
"Now, I'm not totally down with Horace because he seems to be advising that you shouldn't have any hopes for the future," Drake went on. "Instead, I'm going to go with my man James Dean here: 'Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today.' Now, last week I asked you about things you wanted to do before you died, but I don't think there was a lot of day-seizing going on there yet. So let me ask you this time: tell me something you regret. Is there an action that you wish you had taken -- or not taken -- in the past? An opportunity you passed up on that you wished you had taken? If you could have done something differently -- and let's make this something you conceivably could have done differently -- what would it be?"