To His Coy Mistress is a metaphysical poem written by Andrew Marvell. To His Coy Mistress is considered one of Marvell’s finest and quite possibly the best recognized “carpe diem” poem in English. Although the date of its composition is not known, it may have possibly been written in the early 1650s’. Let’s see the poem To His Coy Mistress Summary.
To His Coy Mistress Summary:
The speaker of the poem addresses a woman who has been slow to respond to his sexual advances. The poem “To His Coy Mistress” speaks about the efforts of a man towards insisting on his lover’s affection. The unnamed “coy mistress” is slow to respond to the lover’s sexual intention. However, the lover tries to convince thst if he had enough time, he could spend entire centuries admirer beauty and her innocence.
However, human life is short and he does not have enough time. So, they should enjoy each other now while they still can, as no-one in death can embrace or feel pleasure. In the first stanza, he describes how he would love her if they had an unlimited amount of time. He could spend centuries admiring each part of her body and her refusal to comply would not faze him.
In the second stanza, he remembers how short human life is. Once, it is over, the opportunity to enjoy each other us gone because no one embraces in the grave.
In the last stanza, the speaker urges the woman to comply, arguing that in loving each other with passion they will make the most of the brief time they have to live.
To His Coy Mistress Poem:
Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, Lady were no crime
We should sit down and think which way
To walk and pass our long love’s day.
Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
Of humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
My vegetable love should 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.
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I always hear
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song:
To His Coy Mistress Title:
The title suggests that the author looked over the shoulder of a young man as he wrote a plea to a young lady and that the author then reported the plea exactly as the young man expressed it. However, the author added the title using the third-person possessive pronoun “his” to refer to the young man.
The word “coy” tells the reader that the lady is no easy catch: the word “mistress” can mean lady, manager, caretaker, courtesan, sweet heart and her lover. It can also serves as the female equivalent of master. In “To His Coy Mistress”, the word appears to be a synonym for lady or sweet heart. In reality, of course, Marvell wrote the entire poem.
To His Coy Mistress Theme:
“To His Coy Mistress” presents a familiar theme in literature – carpe diem (meaning seize the day), a term coined by the ancient Roman poet, Horace. Until recently, “To His Coy Mistress” had been received many as a poem that traditionally followed conventions of carpe diem love poetry. However, critics consider Marvell’s use of complex and ambiguous metaphors, challenges the perceived notions of the poem. It as well raises suspicion of irony and deludes the reader with its inappropriate and jarring imagery.
Some critics believe the poem is an ironic statement on sexual seduction. They reject the idea that Marvell’s poem carries a serious and solemn mood. The poem’s opening lines – “Had we but world enough, and time/This coyness, Lady, were no crime” – seems suggest quite a whimsical tone of regret.
In the second part of the poem, there is a sudden transition of Imagery that involves graves, marble vaults and worms. The narrator’s intention of using such metaphors to depict a realistic and harsh death that awaits the lover was to seemingly shock the lady into submission. As well, critics note the sense of urgency of the narrator in the poem’s third section, revealing the alarming comparison of the lovers to “amorous bird’s of prey”.
To His Coy Mistress Structure of the poem:
The poem is written in Iambic Tetrameter and rhymes in couplets. The first stanza is ten couplets long, the second stanza is six and the third stanza is seven couplets long. The logical form of the poem runs: if ….. but ….. therefore.
Although it was written in Iambic Tetrameter, Marvell was known to primarily write in Iambic Pentameter.Â
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