Money, Virginity, and the Frenzy of Life

Jonathan Khouri
Carpe Diem is a Latin mantra that means to seize the day. Everyday, people live and die by this mantra so that they can go through life making the best of what is placed in front of them. The writers, Marvell, Millay and Hurston, know what it means to seize the day, and I feel that these poems aptly interpret different perspectives on carpe diem and its many meanings.
Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress uses allusive and implicative language to speak of his shy mistress. This is considered a carpe diem poem as Marvell invites the mistress to “seize the day”, but essentially, sleep with him. The virginity of the mistress is still clearly in tact, and this is an important step in a woman’s life. Marvell is verbose and ginger as he addresses the issue, but nevertheless is pressuring the mistress and the reader toward his idea of a happy ending, sexual relations. His portrayal of coming together with the mistress is inspirational in nature and egotistic in regards to the position of the male figure.
Edna St. Vincent Millay speaks in a much different tone than Marvell. She is blunt and terse. I, Being Born A Woman and Distressed exemplifies the ideal of taking life as it comes, or seizing the day. Millay realizes that life is filled with stress; despite the comfort she may receive from her significant other. However, stress is not cause for concern or complaint, but rather, something that is a part of life. There is no need to bring up the hardship of life in conversation. One must confuse the pulse and clear the mind in order to deal with life.
Joe wanted to deal with life by earning money: the materialistic route. He wishes to make his wife, Missie May, happy by giving her the comfort he thought she deserved. They both loved each other, but Joe was very lenient, timid, and even bashful. When Mister Slemmons from Chicago comes to town with all kinds of money, Joe allows himself to be pushed aside as he watches Missie May and Slemmons. He remains around his wife and does not show the normal sign of infuriation that a husband would show to an adulterous wife, but rather retains his love for her. In the Gilded Six-Bits, Hurston demonstrates a character, Joe, who is caught up in seizing the money, not the day. Carpe diem does not stand for making a quick buck, but instead, for the greater good. To seize the day is to create opportunity, enjoy life, and live contently.