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Title - The Art of Seduction in Poetry
By - Nelson Trias
Primary Subject - Language Arts
Grade Level - 11, 12
Ode I-XI "Carpe Diem"
Quintus Horatius Flaccus
Carpe Diem and the art of seduction in poetry
The most famous of Horace's odes uses agricultural metaphors to urge us to embrace the pleasures available in everyday life instead of relying on remote aspirations for the future - hence his immortal motto "Carpe Diem", or "pluck the day."
Latin: "Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero."
English: "Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow!"
Ode 1.11: Tu ne quaesieris, scire nefas, quem mihi, quem tibifinem di dederint, Leuconoe, nec Babylonio stemptaris numeros. ut melius, quicquid erit, pati, seu pluris hiemes seu tribuit Iuppiter ultimam,quae nunc oppositis debilitat pumicibus mare Tyrrhenum: sapias, uina liques, et spatio breuispem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit inuidaaetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.
Ode 1.11: Don't ask (it's forbidden to know) what final fate the gods have given to me and you, Leuconoe, and don't consult Babylonian horoscopes. How much better it is to accept whatever shall be, whether Jupiter has given many more winters or whether this is the last one, which now breaks the force of the Tuscan sea against the facing cliffs. Be wise, strain the wine, and trim distant hope within short limits. While we're talking, grudging time will already have fled: seize the day, trusting as little as possible in tomorrow.
Let's Get It On
by Marvin Gaye
I've been really tryin', baby
Tryin' to hold back this feelin' for so long
And if you feel like I feel, baby
Then come on, oh come on
Let's get it on, oh baby
Let's get it on
Let's love, baby
Let's get it on
Sugar, let's get it on
We're all sensitive people
With so much to give
Understand me, sugar
Since we got to being
Let's live
I love you
There's nothing wrong with me
Lovin' you, baby no no
And givin' yourself to me could never be wrong
If the love is true, oh baby
Don't you know how sweet and wonderful
Life can be
I'm asking you baby
To get it on with me
I ain't gonna worry
I ain't gonna push
I won't push you baby
So come on, come on, come on, come on, come on baby
Stop beatin' 'round the bush
Let's get it on
Let's get it on
You know what I'm talkin' about
Come on baby, hey girl
Let your love come out
If you believe in love
Let's get it on
Let's get it on, baby
This minute, oh yeah
Let's get it on
Please get it on
So come on, come on, come on, come on, come on darlin'
Stop beatin' 'round the bush
Gonna get it on
I wanna get it on
You don't have to worry that it's wrong
If the spirit moves ya
Let me groove ya... good
Let your love come down
Get it on, come on baby
To His Coy Mistress
Andrew Marvell. 1621--1678
HAD we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady, were no crime
We would sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love's day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side 5
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews. 10
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast, 15
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
And the last age should show your heart.
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate. 20
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found, 25
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust: 30
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires 35
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may,
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapt power. 40
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
Thus, though we cannot make our sun 45
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
GLOSS: slow-chapt, slow-jawed, slowly devouring.
1. In the voices' attempts to woo the love interest, what are the most influential and significant words or phrases from the two works?
2. Identify the figurative language that exploits the intentions of the voice.
3. Apply the concept of carpe diem to the two works.
EXTENSION ASSIGNMENT
· Find one poem and one song that attempt to woo a love interest.
· Apply the above questions to your song and poem
· Present to the class (5 minutes maximum)
FOR THE TEACHER: MY STUDENTS LOVED THIS ACTIVITY
Most students know what Carpe Diem means, however, we read the poem in class. I also provide the original Latin form as many of my students have taken Latin and are reasonably proficient in reading the text. I leave it up to my students to find out information about Horace and his works.
It's amazing how many kids are familiar with Marvin Gaye's music. I play the CD in class while the students read along. During their reading I ask them to highlight the most important lines in the song. Likewise, as we read Marvell's poem in class, I ask them to highlight important words and phrases.
Equally important for students to discover about Andrew Marvell is that he was a Puritan. I have my students find out on their own what Puritan values are and if the values and beliefs are evident in his poem.
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