Flowers
The entire first stanza of "To the Virgins" is about flowers. The speaker uses the flower's life cycle to emphasize the brevity (shortness) of human life and the importance of seizing opportunities...
The Sun
The entire second stanza of "To the Virgins" is about the sun's "race" (7) through the sky. The farther the sun progresses through the sky, the closer it is to setting. Likewise, the further one pr...
Temperature
Temperature is a powerful metaphor in this poem for youth, health, vigor, and the like.You know how when you first take something out of the microwave it's really hot? Now imagine human life as tha...
Youth and Age
In the third stanza, the speaker straight-up says that youth is the best time of life. This is partly because it is associated with life and health rather than death and sickness. Elsewhere in the...