Comparison of To His Coy Mistress and An Answer to a Love Letter
These two poems are meant to be a love letters written by a man to a
lady of higher disposition and an answer to that love letter, written
by that lady.
The first, written by Marvell is written is telling her 'Carpe Dieum'
- or 'Seize the Day' this phrase sums up his poem, as that is what he
is telling her to do all the time. This is shown by the way he has
structured his piece he starts of explaining what they could do if
they had all of the time in the world
"We would sit and think which way to
Pass our long loves day."
This means that they would just spend the whole time talking and
planning their life because he says our long loves day and in the
context it could mean their life (as they will love forever, therefore
all their life will just be one day full of love) then he goes on to
say that although he would like to do this they cannot as they will
eventually die
"Times winged chariot hurrying near
Thy beauty shall no more be found"
He uses this imagery to show how time (death) is creeping up on them
but fast, as in on a winged chariot. Then, in the logical fashion he
comes up with a solution that they should
"Roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness into one ball."
This could just means that they should 'get together and become one,
possibly through matrimony or having a child hence ball. It could be a
euphemism for having sex.
However in Montagu's poem she uses a different argument. At first she
says that he is seeing a false impression of her because of all the
flattery at the beginning, then saying 'but leaving her-'tis me you
pursue'. She is complimenting his wife (as the man I s already
marries) trying to persuade him that his life at the moment is much
better as he has a wife and money and would be stupid to leave that
behind. Then she starts getting really aggressive and offensive
against mankind, likening them to pug dogs,
"Why should the poor pug (the mimic of your kind)
Wear a rough chain and be to a box confin'd?"
This is meant to be an immense insult against mankind- likening them
to simple dogs, that to be fair are quite ugly and just sit on a lap
to be stroked all day. In saying this she infers that men have no use
but to 'be'. In the next line she begins to give you an idea about why
... and think about it as a way of escape, and by giving away things that have no value to her, she is conveying that she “act and do things accordingly.”
finally realizes that his son loves him and in a way holds him as number one,
therefore the woman has no choice but to follow. "He knows there is no reason
to him; and that he can give and take as he pleases. Therefore, she's willing to accept the
This is shown by the way he talks to her and how he acts around her.
never the same. After 16 years his love for her never faded, even though both
She is talking about a man that does not do anything for her, but always wants her to take
As one character closes the door on a relationship in one poem another character on yearns for one in another poem.
feels; he just imposes his ways on her and expects her to go along with it.
Comparing Tone in To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time and To His Coy Mistress
In the poem “To His Coy Mistress”, the speaker is trying to seduce his wife. In the assumption the mistress is his wife; she is being bashful towards losing her virginity. The speaker, which is the mistress’s husband, develops a carefully constructed argument where the speaker seeks to persuade his lady to surrender her virginity to him.
Authors use poetry to creatively present attitudes and opinions. “A Man’s Requirements,” by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and “A Letter to Her Husband, Absent upon Public Employment” are two poems with distinct attitudes about love that contain different literary approaches. In both of the poems, love is addressed from a different perspective, producing the difference in expectation and presentation, but both suggest the women are subservient in the relationships.
Response to His Coy Mistress Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" is the charming depiction of a man who has seemingly been working very hard at seducing his mistress. Owing to Marvell's use of the word "coy," we have a clear picture of the kind of woman his mistress is. She has been encouraging his advances to a certain point, but then when he gets too close, she backs off, and resists those same advances. Evidently, this has been going on for quite some time, as Marvell now feels it necessary to broach the topic in this poem. He begins in the first stanza by gently explaining that his mistress's coyness would not be a "crime" if there were "world enough, and time…" (l.2).
will be "for ever new," and happy that the love of the boy and the girl will
over his wife as he refers to her as a belonging; it also shows that