"Thus times do shift, each thing his turn does hold; New things succeed, as former things grow old"
About this Quote
Herrick compresses an entire worldview into two tidy lines: change isn’t a crisis, it’s the schedule. The diction is almost bookkeeping - “shift,” “turn,” “hold,” “succeed” - verbs that make time feel like an orderly procession rather than a romantic blur. That restraint is the point. Instead of pleading with the clock, he files it.
As a 17th-century poet writing through political whiplash in England (monarchy, civil war, restoration), Herrick knew that “times do shift” was more than seasonal mood. It’s a quiet acknowledgment that institutions, fashions, and loyalties are temporary arrangements. The subtext carries a double edge: comfort and warning. Comfort, because nothing terrible lasts forever; warning, because nothing stable does either. The couplet’s balance enacts its argument - each clause answers the other, like a wheel completing a rotation.
What makes it work is how it turns novelty into inevitability. “New things succeed” sounds triumphant until the second half lands: they do so only because “former things grow old.” Progress isn’t portrayed as moral improvement; it’s succession, inheritance, replacement. Even the slightly archaic “his turn” gives the world a human hierarchy, as if objects and ideas queue politely for relevance, then step aside.
Herrick’s broader poetic project often celebrates immediate pleasure under the shadow of passing time. Here, he strips away the carpe diem flirtation and offers the colder mechanism behind it: time doesn’t argue, it rotates.
As a 17th-century poet writing through political whiplash in England (monarchy, civil war, restoration), Herrick knew that “times do shift” was more than seasonal mood. It’s a quiet acknowledgment that institutions, fashions, and loyalties are temporary arrangements. The subtext carries a double edge: comfort and warning. Comfort, because nothing terrible lasts forever; warning, because nothing stable does either. The couplet’s balance enacts its argument - each clause answers the other, like a wheel completing a rotation.
What makes it work is how it turns novelty into inevitability. “New things succeed” sounds triumphant until the second half lands: they do so only because “former things grow old.” Progress isn’t portrayed as moral improvement; it’s succession, inheritance, replacement. Even the slightly archaic “his turn” gives the world a human hierarchy, as if objects and ideas queue politely for relevance, then step aside.
Herrick’s broader poetic project often celebrates immediate pleasure under the shadow of passing time. Here, he strips away the carpe diem flirtation and offers the colder mechanism behind it: time doesn’t argue, it rotates.
Quote Details
| Topic | Time |
|---|
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