Carpe Diem Poetry
The Latin phrase carpe diem—usually expressed in English as “seize the day” although its literal translation is “pluck the
day” or “pick the day” as in gathering flowers—originates in the Odes of Horace
(Book 1, No. 11):
carpe diem quam minimum credula postero
Seize the day and put no trust in the future
The sentiment carries with it an awareness
of the passage of time, the fleeting nature
of life, and the approach of death and decay, and its exhortation to take hold of the
present moment, make the most of the
time we have, and live life fully has resonated down the centuries in many poems.
Lovliest of Trees, the Cherry Now
A.E. Housman
(from A Shropshire Lad, 1896)
Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
CARPE DIEM– by Robert Frost
Age saw two quiet children
Go loving by at twilight,
He knew not whether homeward,
Or outward from the village,
Or (chimes were ringing) churchward,
He waited, (they were strangers)
Till they were out of hearing
To bid them both be happy.
"Be happy, happy, happy,
And seize the day of pleasure."
The age-long theme is Age's.
'Twas Age imposed on poems
Their gather-roses burden
To warn against the danger
That overtaken lovers
From being overflooded
With happiness should have it.
And yet not know they have it.
But bid life seize the present?
It lives less in the present
Than in the future always,
And less in both together
Than in the past. The present
Is too much for the senses,
Too crowding, too confusingToo present to imagine.
Who vs. Whom?
OK. So you all asked about "who" versus "whom," but what I think you really want to know is just when to use
"whom," because most people don't go around throwing unneeded "whoms" into their sentences. So remember,
you use "whom" when you are referring to the object of a sentence. Use "who" when you are referring to the subject
of a sentence.
First, we need to talk about the difference between subjects and objects because you use "who" when you are referring to the subject of a clause and "whom" when you are referring to the object of a clause.
I know: subject and object sound pretty abstract, but it's easy. If we think about people, the subject of the sentence
is the person doing something, and the object of the sentence is having something done to them. If I step on Squiggly, then I am the subject and Squiggly is the object.
I love you. You are the object of my affection and my sentence. It's like a Valentine's Day card and grammar mnemonic all rolled into one.
For example, it is "Whom did you step on?" if you are trying to figure out that I had squished Squiggly. Similarly, it
would be "Whom do I love?" because you are asking about the object—the target of my love. I know, it's shocking,
but the Rolling Stones were being grammatically incorrect when they belted out the song "Who Do You Love?"
which I think was originally written by Bo Diddley
So when is it OK to use "who"? If you were asking about the subject of these sentences, then you would use "who."
For example, "Who loves you?" and "Who stepped on Squiggly?" In both these cases the one you are asking about is
the subject—the one taking action, not the one being acted upon.
A Quick Tip
Still too hard to remember? OK, here's the quick and dirty tip. Like "whom," the pronoun "him" ends with "m."
When you're trying to decide whether to use "who" or "whom," ask yourself if the answer to the question would be
"he" or "him."
That's the trick: if you can answer the question being asked with "him," then use "whom," and it's easy to remember
because they both end with "m." For example, if you're trying to ask, "Who (or whom) do you love?" The answer
would be "I love him." "Him"
ends with an "m," so you know
to use "whom."
But if you are trying to ask,
"Who (or whom) stepped on
Squiggly?" the answer would be
"He stepped on Squiggly."
There's no "m," so you know to
use "who."
So that's the quick and dirty
trick: if you can't remember that
you use "whom" when you are
referring to the object of the sentence, just remember that "him"
equals "whom."