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The carpe diem motif was a popular theme in a number of the poems of the 16th and 17th century. A carpe diem attitude, often expressed as “sieze the day”, encourages a person to act on opportunities as they present themselves, and to live life to fullest come what may. Poems reflecting the carpe diem theme focus on youth as the prime of life “That age is best which is the first, When youth and blood are warmer” (Robert Herrick “To the Virgins, to make much of Time”). When one considers this definition, I think it is possible to draw both positive and negative conclusions about the carpe diem way of thinking. This essay will deal with both the possitive and negative interpretations of the carpe diem motif in the “The Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvel and “To the Virgins” by Robert Herrick where the treatment of this theme is explicit. The carpe diem theme in its most possitive context encourages us to, take advantage of windows of opportunity in our lives, to “seize the day” so to speak. These windows of opportunity, which are short, are illustrated in both Herrick’s “Virgin”, and Marvel’s “Coy Mistress”. A realistic feeling of urgency to act is imediately is reflecte