‘To His Coy Mistress’ is one of the two best love poems of Andrew
Marvell, a Metaphysical poet. The poem is written in the form of the style of
construction of a poem named ‘syllogism’ including three sections beginning
with ‘if’, ‘but’ and ‘therefore’. In this poem, the speaker raises arguments
with his beloved to be soft towards him and to relax her firm attitude of
puritan reluctance to grant him sexual favors. Thus the theme of the poem is
‘carpe diem’, meaning ‘seize the opportunity’, the full Latin sentence of which
is “Carpe diem, quam minimum credula poster”, that is, “Enjoy the present day,
trusting the least possible to the future.”
Marvell, being a metaphysical poet, has
applied in the poem a number of metaphysical conceits and mighty imagery.
However, there is also a touch of wit and irony. Moreover the poem draws a high
concentration from the reader and there is an epigrammatic quality. Now, let us
analyze the poem in detail.
The poet begins the first section of the
poem with an improbable, impossible condition,
“Had we
but world enough, and time
This coyness lady were no crime”
That is, if they had enough space and time, the ‘coyness’ or sexual
reluctance of his beloved would have no fault with him. Next he says that if
they had enough space and time they would have enough time to ‘sit down’ ‘to
walk’ and to pass their ‘long loves day’, the lady could find Rubies by the
side of ‘Indian Ganges’ while the poet would complain of his unfulfilled love
on the banks of the river ‘Humber’ in England; he would begin his love making
ten years before the ancient ‘Flood’ occurring probably in the year 2354 B.C,
and the refusal of the lady could be granted/endured ‘till the Conversion of
the Jews’ when all the Jews would be converted into Christianity. That is the
speaker / the lover could wait for a long time for the beloved till she would
turn to him.
If they had enough time, he would spend
‘an hundred years’ to praise her eyes and to graze on her forehead; two hundred
years to admire each of her breasts; and thirty thousand years to praise the
remaining parts of her body. Actually, she, the lover says, deserves such
praise and adoration.
But, the speaker says, all of the previous
conditions are impossible because of the time’s very first pace. He says,
“At my
back I always hear
Times
winged chariot hurrying near;
And
yonder all before us lye
Deserts
of vast Eternity”
He further says that her beauty will decay
soon; she, will lie in her tomb; and his “echoing, Song’ will not be heard any
more. Even “worms shall try that long preserved Virginity”; her nice sense of
honor will ‘turn to dust’ while his lust to make love will turn to ashes.
Indeed none wants to embrace the Grave’s ‘fine and private place.’
‘Now therefore’, the speaker draws
conclusion, it is the time for them to enjoy the full pleasures of love, when
there is still time, when every part of her body ‘transpires’ ‘instant Fires’.
The speaker invites the beloved to ‘sport’ ‘like am’rous birds of prey; - to
extract the fullest intensity of sexual enjoyment – rather than to ‘Languish in
his [times] slow- chapt power’.
In this way, though they can not make the
passage of time, stand still, they can at least, fasten its speed by enjoying as
much of pleasure as possible.
If we consider the above discussion- we
notice that the poet presents the poem in such a well–organized way that any
lady can hardly deny his sexual proposal. The first section provides a
condition and how the speaker would do ‘if’ the condition is fulfilled. ‘But’
the second section clearly expresses the reality opposing the first condition
‘Therefore’, the speaker, in the last section, eagerly seeks for an alternative
to the impossible condition.
Another important thing for the poem is
its secular theme, carpe diem as we
mentioned earlier. The invitation of the speaker to the beloved ‘to sport’
‘like am’rous birds of prey’ is no doubt a direct sexual implication having
secular influence.
The role
of time and fate in our life also takes a place in this poem ‘Times winged
chariot hurrying near’ portrays time’s spades continuousness while “Worms shall
try that long preserved Virginity” exposes the naked inevitableness in out life
with an attack to the rigid ness of Puritanism and with a touch of sexual
implication.
Striking
imagery and metaphysical conceits are a common
characteristic of Marvell as well as Metaphysical poetry. The beloved’s staying
by the ‘Indian Ganges’ and the speaker’s by ‘Humber’ draw in our mind a vivid
picture. He calls his slowly growing love to be ‘vegetable love’ and the speedy
time to be ‘winged chariot hurrying near’. Here abstract ideas, as example of
metaphysical conceit, are expressed through concrete images.
The poem is also marked by wit and irony. The speaker mocks at the
‘coyness’ of his beloved because she is in a position to refuse his love till
the conversion of Jews into Christianity.
Many of the lines of the poem have an epigrammatic quality which requires a
lot of concentration and explanation. One of such examples is –
The
grave’s a fine and private place
But
none I think do there embrace
Indeed, most of the aspects discussed here are the elements of metaphysical poetry. Therefore,
the poem is an excellent example of this kind.
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Thank you. This helped me for my exams a lot.
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