The Cavalier poets of the 17th century, supported King Charles I during the  English Civil War. Their attitude  towards life is revealed in three  significant words “seize the day”  (“carpe diem”). The most famous Cavalier poets are Ben Jonson, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Carew, and Sir John Suckling. “They accept the ideal of the Renaissance Gentleman who is at once lover, soldier, wit, man of affairs, musician, and poet, but abandon the notion of his being also a pattern of Christian chivalry” (Robin Skelton).

The Cavalier poets enjoy the casual poem, and “ distrust the over-earnest, the too intense” (Edmond El Chidiac). The motto of the Cavalier poets is to entertain by writing poems of romantic love. They don’t  believe in probing the inner depths of the soul. All Cavalier  poets except  Herrick disappeared after Charles I was sentenced to death. The following lines by the greatest Cavalier poet Herrick (!591-1674)  tell us about the essence of the Cavalier poetry:

GATHER ye rosebuds while ye may,

Old Time is still a-flying;

And this same flower that smiles to-day,

To-morrow will be dying.

The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,

The higher he’s a-getting;

The sooner will his race be run,

And nearer he ’s to setting

-“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may”

Herrick’s message is quite clear. He reminds the young girls to enjoy, because life is transient. We must enjoy as life is very short. Herrick’s another poem “To Daffodils” reveals the same theme.