Anaylsis of To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

1099 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: In "To His Coy Mistress

This poem has been written in the form of a request to the poet's coy (or shy) mistress, the grant his desire for them to make love. He argues that for to delay makes no sense because 'at my back I always hear/time's winged chariot hurrying along near'. Much of his argument is made through a series of hyperbole (h-p rb-l) A figure of speech in which exaggeration is used for emphasis or effect, as in I could sleep for a year or This book weighs a ton. Here he is describing how slow they could move to consummate their love if there were no pressure of time. As all Cavalier poets, he supports the statement of "carpe diem", or "seize the day", that is an extension to the Renaissance code of chivalry.

Today, the speaker's speech may seem sexist in its attitude toward women and irresponsible in its attitude toward the coy mistress (the speaker doesn't explain how he would seize the day if the woman became pregnant, for example). The mistress would like to postpone sex (theoretically until she and the speaker are married). The speaker wants to consummate their physical relationship now.

The poem's speaker is attempting to persuade "His Coy Mistress" to have sex with him. The speaker seems frustrated, impatient, and to feel a sense of urgency in pursuing this goal.

Although the rhyme scheme of the poem follows a simple couplet pattern (AA, BB, and so on), two couplets use slant or irregular rhyme, not simply to vary the monotonous pattern but to reinforce the poem's theme. Lines 23 and 24 use the approximate rhyme "lie/eternity"; lines 27 and 28 repeat this irregularity: try/virginity." The poet uses pauses and enjambment (running one line into the next without a pause) to break up the neat pattern that the couplet rhyme scheme ...

... middle of paper ...

...ense of urgency and dread if the man does not get what he wants.

Form: couplets

5. Ganges (gnjz) A river of northern India and Bangladesh rising in the Himalayan Mountains

7. Humber: Hull, where Marvell lived as a boy, and which he represented as an M.P. for nearly twenty years from 1659, is on the river Humber.

10. The conversion of the Jews was to take place just before the end of the world.

11. vegetable love: that of his "vegetable'' soul.

29. quaint: elegant, artificial.

34. dew. The original reading is "glew,'' which has been justified as meaning "glow.''

36. instant: immediate and urgent.

38. amorous (mr-s) 1.Strongly attracted or disposed to love, especially sexual love. 2.Indicative of love or sexual desire: an amorous glance. 3.Of or associated with love: an amorous poem

40. slow-chapp'd: i.e., with slow-devouring jaws.

Show More
Related

  • The Beginning Of The Song That Diverts The Heart Summary

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    The alliteration used is to emphasize rhythm in the poem. On the other hand, the poet also depicts a certain rhyme scheme across each stanza. For example, the first stanza has a rhyme scheme of this manner a, b, c, d, e, a. With this, the rhyme scheme depicted is an irregular manner. Hence, the poem does not have a regular rhythm. Moreover, the poet uses a specific deign of consonance, which is present in the poem (Ahmed & Ayesha, p. 11). The poet also uses the assonance style depicted in the seventh stanza, “Seven whole days I have not seen my beloved.” The letter ‘o’ has been repeated to create rhythm and to show despair in the poem. On the second last line of the seventh stanza, the poet uses the style of consonance, “If I hug her, she’ll drive illness from me. By this, the letter ‘l’ is repeated across the line. The poet’s aim of using this style of Consonance is to establish rhythm in the poem and add aural

    Read More

  • Summary Of The White Judges By Marilyn Dumont

    960 Words  | 2 Pages

    The repetition of the words “waited” (13), and “watched” (14), throughout the stanzas adds anaphora and mystery to the vivid disapproval surrounding the family. Moreover, the use of repetition deepens the focus on the shame and guilt the young girl and her family are experiencing. The anaphora used throughout the poem intends that there is something being waited for. Therefore, the colonialist settlers are continuously waiting and watching for something to happen. In the last stanza Dumont states, “Or wait until a fight broke out” (55), suggesting that this is the action being waited for. As a result, the negative action causes the family to feel shame and regret. Overall, the use of musicality and anaphora successfully allows the reader to experience the pressure of

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Kate Chopin's 'The Storm'

    899 Words  | 2 Pages

    James Dickey illustrates the pleasures and guilt that comes with an affair. The rush one gets with the fear of getting caught (Dickey 351). The narrator in the poem seems to have no problem with the affair because he clearly states he will call again if he can, proving that he is barely fazed by not remaining faithful. It is clear that both the narrator and the mistress are pressed for time in this sick lust affair they are having. Both equally nervous about being caught by a significant other or someone, but they don’t seem to care enough to end their relationship. In this case, there seems to be no act of fidelity because the narrator says he’ll see her next week (Dickey

    Read More

  • To the Virgins, To Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick

    606 Words  | 2 Pages

    The meaning of the first stanza is do the things you need to get done because tomorrow the opportunity may not exist. It states this by saying gather rosebuds while you can because that beautiful flower “tomorrow will be dying” (Herrick 385). The next stanza talks about the Sun’s life from dawn to dusk. By describing it’s race against time it is telling a person that there is not much sunlight so make the most of it To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time and Carpe Diem

    Read More

  • To His Coy Mistress And Youth's The Season Made For Joys

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the entire poem, coyness is not regarded as an attractive behavior in the long term view of objective reality. Time is always of the essence, and death puts an end to all physical and emotional interactions between people. This is expressed in the line “that long-preserved virginity, and your quaint honor turn to dust, and into ashes all my lust” (Marvell). As time progresses, so does the process of decay, and this is what leads to the cycle of life and death. Marvell conveys both the biological and emotional need to propagate the concept of carpe diem, seizing the day and taking initiative in the face of time’s constant war against mortality.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of I Dreamed I Moved Among The Elysian Fields

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    The speaker begins the poem an ethereal tone masking the violent nature of her subject matter. The poem is set in the Elysian Fields, a paradise where the souls of the heroic and virtuous were sent (cite). Through her use of the words “dreamed”, “sweet women”, “blossoms” and

    Read More

  • Abigail Deutsch's Poem After The Disaster

    512 Words  | 2 Pages

    From the combination of enjambed and end-stopped lines, the reader almost physically feels the emphasis on certain lines, but also feels confusion where a line does not end. Although the poem lacks a rhyme scheme, lines like “…not long after the disaster / as our train was passing Astor” and “…my eyes and ears…I couldn't think or hear,” display internal rhyme. The tone of the narrator changes multiple times throughout the poem. It begins with a seemingly sad train ride, but quickly escalates when “a girl came flying down the aisle.” During the grand entrance, imagery helps show the importance of the girl and how her visit took place in a short period of time. After the girl’s entrance, the narrator describes the girl as a “spector,” or ghost-like figure in a calm, but confused tone. The turning point of the poem occurs when the girl “stopped for me [the narrator]” and then “we [the girl and the narrator] dove under the river.” The narrator speaks in a fast, hectic tone because the girl “squeez[ed] till the birds began to stir” and causes her to not “think or hear / or breathe or see.” Then, the tone dramatically changes, and becomes calm when the narrator says, “so silently I thanked her,” showing the moment of

    Read More

  • Ron Padgett's The Morning Coffee

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    I believe that the structure of this poem allows for the speaker to tell a narrative which further allows him to convey his point. The use of enjambment emphasizes this idea as well as provides a sense of flow throughout the entirety of a poem, giving it the look and feel of reading a story. Overall, I believe this piece is very simplistic when it comes to poetic devices, due to the fact that it is written as a prose poem, this piece lacks many of the common poetic devices such as rhyme, repetition, alliteration, and metaphors. However, the tone, symbolism, allusion and imagery presented in the poem, give way to an extremely deep and complicated

    Read More

  • To His Coy Mistress

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Attitudes Towards Love in Pre-1900 and 1990's Poetry

    3047 Words  | 7 Pages

    However there is an unexpected twist where the poet just calms down and thinks he can find love again. This shows the poet’s structure of the poem and how ... ... middle of paper ... ... ion and repetition. Another comparison between the two poems is we are both hearing the viewpoint from the poet not from anybody else.

    Read More

  • Response to His Coy Mistress

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    He compares his love to a "vegetable," which means that it would not stray, but would grow "vaster than empires," and would do so more slowly (ll. 11-12). He claims that he would happily spend a hundred years praising her eyes, and gazing at her forehead. When that is over, he would spend two hundred years on each breast, and spend "thirty thousand to the rest" (l. 16). He then crowns this romantic hyperbole with the statement, "[f]or, lady, you deserve this state, /Nor would I love at a lower rate" (ll. 19-20). These statements serve to support one of the major themes of the poem:

    Read More

  • Keats: A Life Lesson from A Piece of Marble

    1643 Words  | 4 Pages

    The second stanza seems to be the only stanza without a matching rhyme scheme; the first stanza has the fifth and the third has the fourth. This ‘lonesome’ stanza gives the poem a sense of imperfectness, just like the mortal life humans live in, whereas upon the urn life is ‘perfect’ and immortal.

    Read More

  • To His Coy Mistress Essay: Imagery, Symbolism, and Descriptions

    1160 Words  | 3 Pages

    Marvell uses many images that work as tools to express how he wishes to love his mistress in the first stanza of the poem.  From line 1 to 20 Marvell tells his mistress how he wishes he had all the time in the world to love her.  In the very first line Marvell brings up the focus of time, “Had we but world enough and time/This coyness, lady, were no crime”.  The second line shows the conflict that the author is facing in the poem, her coyness.  Marvell continues from these initial lines to tell his mistress what he would do if he had enough time.  In lines, three and four Marvell talks of “sitting down” to “think” where they will walk on their “long love’s day”.  All of these word...

    Read More

  • Literary Analysis: It Couldnt Be Done By Edgar Guest

    1125 Words  | 3 Pages

    The ABAB rhyme scheme is a pattern that can be recognized by many individuals; therefore, it relates to the message that motivation is needed by everybody. Two ABAB rhyme schemes make up each stanza, which symbolizes the positivity and negativity that battle throughout the poem. Guest breaks the rhyme scheme once by rhyming “failure” with “you”. This strategic action emphasizes the different methods that negative individuals use to destroy a person’s ambition. Internal rhyme is included in many lines of the poem to create fluidity and sound pleasing to an audience. The poem is composed of a qualitative iambic meter, giving the syllables a sound of da DUM. A pleasing flow is observed through the fairly consistent line length and line syllable number. The lines throughout the poem end in both stressed and unstressed syllables, referencing the battle between discouragement and

    Read More

  • Formalistic Approach To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    Structure, a major tool stressed in this poem, tends to rearrange the text in a large-scale way. In "To His Coy Mistress", the reader should focus on the most significant types of structure: stanza and temporal. In other words, time and chronological order assemble the whole meaning of the text throughout the poem. Although the story contains seduction and intimacy, which is portrayed in the title alone, it is merely a cry for two lovers to be together before time runs out. Temporally, the man first explains to the woman how he would love her if he only had the time. The man's sincerity is truly expressed when Marvell writes, "Had we but world enough, and time...I would love you ten years before the flood...nor would I love at lower rate," (373: 1, 7-8, 20). It seems that the man genuinely cares for the lady, or is he secretly seducing her into bed? Taking a look at the second stanza...

    Read More

More about Anaylsis of To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

Open Document