TEMPORAL AND METAPHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF “CARPE DIEM” IN THE POETRY OF THE 17TH CENTURY

Abstract

This study investigates how seventeenth-century English poets expressed the theme of carpe diem through both temporal and metaphysical perspectives. Focusing on writers such as John Donne, Robert Herrick, and Andrew Marvell, it explores the way they balance the brevity of human life with spiritual longing and eternal truth. The analysis reveals that in this era, the carpe diem idea evolved beyond the call for pleasure, turning instead into a profound meditation on time, mortality, and divine purpose. The poets’ awareness of life’s transience is intertwined with their search for metaphysical meaning, suggesting that “seizing the day” was also a way of confronting the boundaries between the material world and eternity. Thus, the paper concludes that seventeenth-century carpe diem poetry represents a unique harmony of temporal consciousness and metaphysical insight, mirroring the era’s complex religious and philosophical thought.