To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time "To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time" is a poem written by English Cavalier poet Robert Herrick in the 17th century. The poem is in the genre of "carpe diem", Latin for "seize the day". It goes as follows: First published in 1648 as number 208 in a volume of verse entitled "Hesperides", it is perhaps one of the most famous poems to extol the notion of "carpe diem". "Carpe diem" expresses a philosophy that recognizes the brevity of life and therefore the need to live for and in the moment.
Toward the End of Time published in "Consider the Lobster"), novelist David Foster Wallace wrote a scathing critique of "Toward the End of Time." Wallace wrote: Wallace quotes literary readers he knows who characterize Updike "just a penis with a thesaurus." Aside from its protagonist, who, Wallace argues, is fundamentally unlikable, the novel's prose is so "turgid" that it distracts "us with worries about whether Mr. Updike might be injured or ill." Wallace concludes: In contrast, Margaret Atwood wrote a very positive review of "Toward the End of Time" for the "New York Times", "Memento Mori--But First, Carpe Diem." She praises Updike's "brilliant metaphors" and