To his coy mistress marvell. To His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell 2022-11-09
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To His Coy Mistress is a poem written by Andrew Marvell in the 17th century. The poem is written in the form of a persuasive argument, in which the speaker tries to convince his mistress to succumb to his advances and embrace a life of physical pleasure.
One of the central themes of the poem is the passage of time and how it impacts our ability to live life to the fullest. The speaker acknowledges that if they had all the time in the world, he could spend it slowly and leisurely courting his mistress, showering her with attention and affection. However, he notes that time is fleeting and that they must seize the moment and enjoy the present while they can.
Marvell uses vivid imagery and figurative language to illustrate this point. For example, he compares the passage of time to a river that flows relentlessly, leaving no trace of its passage. He also compares the mistress to a flower that will eventually wilt and die, unless it is plucked and enjoyed while it is still fresh and beautiful.
Another theme in the poem is the idea of mortality and how it shapes our choices and actions. The speaker acknowledges that both he and his mistress will one day die, and that this fact should motivate them to make the most of their lives. He compares their lives to a garden that will eventually be overtaken by weeds and forgotten, unless they take action to cultivate it and make it thrive.
Marvell also uses the poem to explore the theme of desire and how it can drive us to do things that we might not normally do. The speaker is clearly driven by his desire for his mistress, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to win her over. He uses flattery, persuasive arguments, and even threats to try to sway her to his side.
Overall, To His Coy Mistress is a thought-provoking and intellectually stimulating poem that explores some of the fundamental questions of life and human nature. Its themes of time, mortality, and desire are timeless and universal, and Marvell's use of language and imagery helps to bring these ideas to life in a powerful and memorable way.
To His Coy Mistress Themes
In a world with infinite time, he imagines, his beloved could stroll with leisure by rivers across the world and refuse his advances till the end of time. We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love's day. The phrase is used as a title chapter in Andreas Wagner's pop science book on the origin of variation in organisms, "Arrival of the Fittest". Retrieved 17 May 2015. Likewise, the speaker imagines his lust being reduced to ashes, while the chance for the two lovers to join sexually will be lost forever.
Moreover, Marvell demonstrates in colorful visual images how the beauty of his beloved will fade and how her innocence will be given up for desecration to the worms that act as a metaphor for death in the poem. The fact that this one of the few modest lines in the poem displays how he must not desire a genuine relationship with his mistress and simply wants to use her for sex. His mistress is being coy, and he demonstrates his appreciation for a long, slow courtship in which Writing an essay? The poem is written in rhymed couplets of iambic tetrameter and is divided into three stanzas, indicated by indentations. To his coy mistress. His "vegetable love," an allusion to an The fantasy dissolves with Marvell's insertion of the transition term But in line 21, when the second part of his argument begins. Hyperbole: The speaker exaggerates the amount of time he could devote to the mistress if she were willing to surrender her virginity to him. When he traces bodily the expansive, tender courtship, he reflects the earnest dream of every lover: timelessness.
He argues that if she continues in her coy behaviors, they will grow too old for love, and Time, whom Marvell personifies, will defeat them. Retrieved 5 June 2019. The enhancement of the poem caused by his use of enigmatic metaphors in rhymed couplets within an iambic tetrameter makes us question whether Marvell is condemning deceitful male chauvinism or the coyness of females. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987. Some modern critics, however, argue Marvell's use of complex and ambiguous Some critics believe the poem is an ironic statement on sexual seduction. Marvell inserts selfreflection in the reference to the Humber, as he was born close by and enjoyed his education in Hull, on the north bank. Ultimately, the use of figurative and ironic devices in the poem conveys the speaker's frustration and desperation in trying to persuade his coy mistress.
Analysis of Andrew Marvellâs To His Coy Mistress
Indeed, the poem is an attempt to seduce the titular "coy mistress. Had we but World enough, and Time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime. Most likely written in the 1650s in the midst of the English Interregnum, the poem was not published until the 1680s, after Marvell's death. By embracing and accepting the impermanence of life, we can make the most of our time here and create meaningful memories with those we love. In this poem, though, the speaker only uses these devices to suggest that distancing himself from his lover is mindless, because they do not have the limitless time necessary for the speaker to praise the Lady sufficiently. The metaphysical poetry of the 17th century is characterized by a special grandeur of poetic thinking, which sought to give embodiment to large symbolic and philosophical concepts.
I would Love you ten years before the Flood; And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews. Despite living in a time when the Puritan Movement was gathering strength, many Metaphysical poems deal with seduction and descriptions of sexual relationships. Literature and Politics in Cromwellian England If you are interested in the political side of Marvell, this is the book for you. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. Alliteration: "Time's winged chariot hurrying near" 4. We don't hear much from the mistress â unless of course we look into the subterranean streams of ballads and folk songs, which are perennially filled with the anonymous laments of those women who let themselves be seized by jolly sailors and soldiers more often than poets, it must be said and were left holding the baby.
Andrew Marvell: Poems âTo His Coy Mistressâ Summary and Analysis
As the detailed analysis will show, he employs imaginative and inventive imagery. Marvell is not joking about his sense of urgency; he reminds us that mortality is no joke. Time is personified in the poemâmeaning it is given human attributes such as the ability to drive a chariot or to purposely pursue us to our deaths. They reject the idea that Marvell's poem carries a serious and solemn mood. Themes This is a seduction poem, urging his girlfriend to agree to sex. Once life is over, the speaker contends, the opportunity to enjoy one another is gone, as no one embraces in death. He admits that this is the admiration and love that she deserves and that he would gladly give it to her if he could.
But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near: And yonder all before us lye Desarts of vast Eternity. Later, the speaker uses a Another simile describes the two of them as "amorous birds of prey" who can "devour" time. But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near: And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Hyperbole: Marvell exaggerates the amount of time he would spend courting his beloved if they had an eternity together in lines 5-8. See, here are a few lines we love: It's a good thing that I have my library card.
What figurative language does Andrew Marvell use in "To His Coy Mistress"?
As well, critics note the sense of urgency of the narrator in the poem's third section, especially the alarming comparison of the lovers to "amorous birds of prey". New York: Garland, 1998. The speaker makes note of his would-be lover's "youthful glow," comparing its effect on her skin to that of "morning dew. My vegetable love would grow Vaster than empires, and more slow; An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. Thou by the Indian Ganges side Should'st Rubies find: I by the Tide Of Humber would complain. Characteristics One common characteristic is that Metaphysical poetry is clever and witty. Let us roll all our strength, and all Our sweetness, up into one ball, And tear our pleasure with rough strife Through the iron gates of life: Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.
