To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell and The Flea by John Donne

To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell and The Flea by John Donne

Two of the poems in Best Words are seduction poems, rather than

love poems. These are To his coy mistress by Andrew Marvell and The

Flea by John Donne. Compare these two poems by analysing: -

· Each poets intention

· Form of the poem

· Language used in the poem

· Your reaction to the unromantic poems.

‘Let me not to the marriage of true minders/Admit impediments, love is

not love’, is one of many famous love sonnets written by William

Shakespeare. He had examined different parts of love and descried to

explain them in a sonnet; where as other poets have written poems with

different forms and structure on their points of views about

relationships and seduction. In my essay I intend to compare the

similarities and differences in two different poems. They are, ‘To his

coy mistress’ by Andrew Marvell which is about time and ‘The Flea’ by

John Donne, to answer, ‘Are these poems really dominant with

seduction?’

Firstly one similarity between Marvell’s ‘To his coy mistress’ and

Donne’s ‘The Flea’ is how they both have the same intention of

seducing their mistress. This is shown by ‘oh stay, thee lives in one

flea spare’ and ‘and now, like amorous birds of prey. It is evident

that love is not a key feature of the poet’s relationship. It’s more

like a balancing act of power between them. However their mistress

refuses to succumb to their master’s advantages, which lets the women

be in control.

This is seen by how in the 17th century, men had the say for

everything that happened, so the two versifier try to seduce their

mistress. It is evident that the two authors go about it in different

ways. In ‘To his coy mistress’ by Marvell he...

... middle of paper ...

...and Donne had generally similar

ideas, on how to bed their mistress. This is shown by sharing the

same, aim of the poem, through their very own mistress. The

similarities can be seen by the structure and language that are also.

However if that was me in that position, I would tried to out wit

Donne, by showing how his intellectual powers, wouldn’t out mind me;

because I would try and impersonate what the poet was trying to do, so

that the poet’s intentions wouldn’t of happened, as I would make sure

I was in control of the relationship. Now I will let you think of

something and that is…What would you have done back in the 17th

century? And what do you think of the poet’s back then now in the 21st

century? I’ll leave that to you to think about that and how women were

treated for the use of sex and not treated for their personality

within that time period.