Carpe diem
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- This article is about the Latin phrase. For the webcomic of the same name, see Carpe Diem (comic).
Carpe diem is Latin for "pluck the day". It is also a term often used in navies as an expression of goodwill. The phrase is typically translated into English as "seize the day".
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Use in Poetry
The phrase carpe diem was used by the Roman poet Horace; his Odes I, 11.8-9 (65–8 BC) reads:
- Dum loquimur fugerit invida aetas. Carpe diem quam minimum credula postero.
- (As we speak, jealous Time flees. Pluck the day, believing as little as possible in the next.)
It is quoted accordingly either as a demand not to waste somebody's time with useless things, or as a justification for pleasure and joy of life with little fear for the future.
This idea was popular in 16th and 17th-century English poetry, for example in Robert Herrick's To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, which begins "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may". [1] It is interesting to note that the following Chinese couplet attributed to a certain poetess in Tang Dynasty, which have entered the realm of proverbs, strikingly resemble Herrick's line:
(Pluck the flower when it has blossomed; don't wait until there are no flowers with only branches to break.)
Another of Herrick's poems, His Age [2] includes the lines:
- Ah Posthumus! Our years hence fly,
- And leave no sound; nor piety,
- Or prayers, or vow
- Can keep the wrinkle from the brow -
And:
- A merry mind
- Looks forward, scorns what's left behind;
- Let's live, my Wickes, then, while we may
- An here enjoy our holiday.
This theme is also recalled in the verses of English Victorian poet Tennyson, and in Andrew Marvell's famous To His Coy Mistress.
A song in William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night has been referred to as "Carpe Diem", although the phrase itself is not mentioned in it:
- 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,
- Journeys 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.
The word phrase carpe diem is also used to denote the theme of Christopher Marlowe's The Passionate Shepherd to His Love.
In a modern poem, entitled "You Would" by A. Kefalas, the phrase is used in reference to seizing the day. It states, "Carpe diem, damnit."
Use in Film
Robin Williams' character as a teacher of a boys' boarding school in the film Dead Poets Society uses it:
- But if you listen real close, you can hear them whisper their legacy to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? — Carpe — hear it? — Carpe, carpe diem, seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary.
In the Australian Claymation Harvie Krumpet by Adam Eliot the main character gets inspired by a statue of Horace on which it is written Carpe diem.
Use in Television
In the episode of The Simpsons with the cat burglar Jimbo is caught spraying Carpe Diem on an alley wall.
In the second season episode of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer", "Surprise", Willow tells Buffy "Carpe Diem", to which Buffy replies, "Fish of the day?"
Use in Writing
The title of a Terry Pratchett novel is Carpe Jugulum, (Pluck the neck) meaning "Go for the throat."
Another alternative, more light-hearted version common on T-shirts is carpe scrotum (pluck the scrotum), juxtaposed with the free translation "seize life by the balls".
Use in Music
Metallica's 1997 release Reload also features a song entitled "Carpe Diem Baby", which encourages the listener to "come squeeze and suck the day / Come Carpe Diem Baby." Progressive metal group Dream Theater's A Change of Seasons EP features the 23-minute long title track, telling the story of a man whose birth, life and death are juxtaposed with the changing of seasons in a single year. The song carries a very strong theme of "seizing the day" and making every moment meaningful. Soundbites from Dead Poets Society and Robert Herrick's poem mentioned earlier in this article are featured in the song.
The American hardcore band Will Haven released an album in 2001, entitled Carpe Diem.
A more recent use in music is the song Carpe Diem by Chinese American Rapper Jin(also known as The Emcee.) He talks about 'seizing the day' and lyrics incude: You see something you want, then go for it/ Don't think twice, go for it/Don't think twice, go for it/ Don't leave this earth with nothing to show for it.
Carpe Diem is sung in operatic fashion by a choir over a techno/dance beat on the closing credits at the end of each of Sky Sports' live Super League rugby league match broadcasts.
The phrase is also sung in the song "Anthem" by Zebrahead where the singer describes of how he wants to break out and hence, carpe diem.
The phrase is often used to exhort people to make the most of their time with the implication that they will benefit in the future, whereas it is more intended to suggest that people should do what they want today and ignore the future consequences. It was also recently used in a Verizon television commercial.
On Dream Theaters "A Change Of Seasons", in the song of the same album name ""Carpe diem [Seize the day]" is spoken at the start of the third section, which is also entitled "[III. Carpe Diem]"de:Carpe diem es:Carpe diem fr:Carpe diem gl:Carpe diem id:Carpe diem it:Carpe diem nl:Carpe diem pl:Carpe diem pt:Carpe diem ru:Carpe diem
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