Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Misstres
Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Misstres is a poem on erotic love it is constructed in the true Carpe Diem mode exhorting the beloved to seize the moment and make the best use of time before it is too late.
In the first section the lover explains how he and his
mistress could have led an easy leisurely blissful life if they had all the
time in the world to live and love. If
the lover had all the time in the world, he says he would have loved his lady
leisurely. They would sit down and
decide which way they should walk and pass in the day. They would talk of love the whole say. She would wander on the banks of the river Ganges and find rubies.
He would sit by the shores of Humber
and sing plaintive songs expressing his yearning for her. He would love her till the end of the
world. She would turn down his love till
the Jews are converted to Christianity.
His love would grow exuberantly like a plant and become vaster than
emprise. The love would use a hundred
years praising the beauty of the beloved's eyes and forehead, two hundred years
praising the beauty of the beloved's eyes and forehead, two hundred years to
adore each breast and thirty thousand years to the test. It will take ages to priase each part She
deserves all praise. The love wouldn't
love her in any other way.
In the second strophe the lover deals with the transitory
nature of beauty and youth. The poet
adopts the classical pattern of logically sound arguments to portray erotic
love. The poem is in the true Carpe Diem mode.
The lover says that Time passes quickly.
Physical beauty fades quickly and dies.
They have to seize the moment and make the best use of it. Now she is beautiful and youth. He is full of love. The lover invites the mistress to respond to
the call of love. If she does not come
to his embrace now, perhaps it will be too late because Time and Death pursue
them relentlessly and there is no escape.
With these infallible arguments the lover convinces his beloved of the
urgency of physical love.
The third strophe is lover's plea to his beloved to make
the best use of time. They have to act
this instant, or it will be too late.
They now possess the beauty and youth and zest and vitality. Time passes too fast. Its birds of prey devour beauty and strength. They should enjoy love. The should unite together. Time and death pursue them relentlessly and
since they flee from their Jaw they should seize the moment and make the best
use of time before it is too late. The
lover thus persuades his beloved to respond to his love and come to his
embrace.
The three strophes are closely related in keeping with
the meta-physical tradition.
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