To His Coy Mistress and To His Mistress Going To Bed Essay Example

The speaker thinks that her lady qualities are put on. This links to the word ‘ coy’ from the title which means performance. The reader starts to sense that the speaker does not truly love the lady but he would just want to have intercourse with her.

Furthermore, the speaker associates the lady to images of the ‘ Ganges’ and ‘ rubies’. India suggest exoticism. The fact that the river Ganges is holy implies that the man thinks the woman is deserving of worship. ‘Rubies’ are precious red stones and it associates her with images of beauty and wealth. By associating the lady to rubies, this would make the lady feel important as rubies are valuable and rare. Similarly, the speaker mentions how he would love the lady ‘ ten years before the flood’ till ‘ the conversion of the jews’.

In the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible, the flood was supposed to happen 4000 years ago at the start of time. In contrast, the conversion of the jews is yet to happen but will possibly take place the day before Armageddon. The hyperbole could imply that the speaker would love the lady for a long time. Because these are religious phrases, the lady would think that the man is moral and trustworthy unlike other men who only like her because of her physical appearance. The speaker describes how he would spend ‘ one hundred years’ adoring her forehead and ‘ thirty thousand’ the rest.The hyperbole exaggerates that if he had the time, he would spend an impossible amount of time admiring her body.

This is meant to flatter the lady and

make her feel special. Later in the poem To His Coy Mistress, Marvell uses fear to seduce his mistress. Firstly, the speaker mentions how ‘ deserts of vast eternity’ lie ahead of them. This metaphor could imply that death is ahead of them. The reference to the desert could highlight how the lady would be isolated for a long time as deserts are barren and she would remain infertile. Furthermore, the speaker mentions how ‘ worms’ would try to take her virginity.

The threatening imagery is used to imply that is the woman does not give into his advances, then worms will take her virginity away. This would make the lady and the reader feel uncomfortable as the phrase is extremely negative. Likewise, the speaker describes how the lady’s ‘ quaint honour’ will turn to dust. The word ‘ quaint’ is Chaucerian reference to the female genitalia. The speaker suggests that her female genitalia will rot and become useless and he is also glossing over the fact that this loss of honor will happen a lot sooner if she gives up her virginity.

The lady would feel hurt as the speaker would only be using her for intercourse and the speaker does not truly care about her. In the poem To His Coy Mistress, Marvell tries to overwhelm the lady and not give her time to think in order to seduce her. Firstly, the speaker refers to time’s ‘ winged chariot’ hurrying near. This metaphor suggest that time is running out as life expectancy in the 1700’s was only 35 years.

The classical Greek Mythology is explored where Helios who was the God of the sun dwelt

in a golden palace located in the River Okeanos at the eastern ends of the earth.From there he emerged each dawn driving a chariot drawn by four, fiery winged steeds and crowned with the aureole of the sun. Once his son, Phaethon attempted to drive the chariot of the sun, but losing control, set the earth on fire. Zeus then struck him down with a thunderbolt. Here, the speaker talks about the reality of time.

He describes time as an actual person who is on ‘ a winged chariot’ which is speeding by. By using this language, the speaker suggests that in reality, no one can have eternal life as time waits for no one and over time, everyone grows old and dies.The Latin phrase ‘ carpe diem’ is explored. It means seize the day, this links to the writer's intention, which is to have sex with the lady before they both die of old age. Thus, the speaker’s lover would also lose her beauty and value as time goes by. Furthermore, the poem is structured as a syllogism, which is a logical argument with three parts it includes rhyming couplets which slow down the pace of the poem making the speaker’s tone of voice less threatening and the lady might want to have sex with the man since she trusts him due to his use of a logical argument which makes him knowledgeable.

In the poem To His Coy Mistress, Marvell seduces the lady by telling her that intercourse is enjoyable. Firstly, the speaker describes him and the lady as ‘ amorous birds of prey’. The reference to the image of the birds suggests that

they would be like hungry predators. This simile is used to describe the nature of what their sexual union would look like, implying that during intercourse, there would be powerful moments. Similarly, the speaker refers to the intercourse as a ‘ ball’.

The ball could represent movement thus making intercourse sound fun as if it was a game.This would make the lady and the reader think that intercourse is not a bad idea. Furthermore, the speaker uses nature in order to seduce his mistress. He mentions his ‘ vegetable love’ shall grow. This is a double entendre as the reference to the ‘ vegetable’ could be describing his penis growing vastly or his love growing vastly.

The double entendre exaggerates how much the speaker loves the lady. As in To His Coy Mistress, John Donne’s To His Mistress Going To Bed uses flattery and compliments as a method of seduction.For example, he has asked the lady to remove her girdle, which is ‘ like heaven’s zone glittering’. Here, the adjective ‘ glittering’ in the simile suggests that the girdle is sparkling like paradise.

Similarly, he adds that the lady is a ‘ far fairer world’ than this, implying that she is even more beautiful than paradise. Furthermore, the speaker describes the lady as a ‘ precious stone’. The adjective ‘ precious’ highlights the purity of her emphatic mood. This would make the lady feel special as the speaker feels lucky to have her.As in To His Coy Mistress, John Donne’s To His Mistress Going To Bed refers to his mistress as a ‘ madam’ which was a respectful term for women of his society. This

shows that the speaker recognizes her status.

Furthermore, this word is flanked by commas and this is called caesura. The caesura causes the reader to pause which emphasizes the word ‘ madam’ and is a mark of respect. Even though the speaker is being quite nice, the imperative repetition of the word ‘ come’ show that he is being assertive and does not truly care about the lady. Instead, he does think she is deserving of this title and he wants to give up that facade.Therefore, the speakers in both poems focus on physical beauty. As in To His Coy Mistress, John Donne’s To His Mistress Going To Bed tries to overwhelm the lady by not giving her time to think.

Firstly, the speaker accomplishes this by structuring the poem using rhyming couplets which slows down the pace of the speaker thus making him sound less threatening, this would make the lady consider having intercourse with him as she thinks he is kind and patient. Similarly, the repetition of the imperatives urges the lady to come to him which discourages her from thinking.Here, the reader might think that the speaker is not interested in what she has to say. In John Donne’s To His Mistress Going To Bed, he uses possession and brings forward male dominance in order to seduce his mistress. Firstly, the repetition of the word ‘ my’ is an example of a possessive pronoun. This clearly shows that the speaker wants possession of the lady.

The possessive pronoun can be supported by the fact that the speaker mentioned how the lady can be safest with ‘ one man manned’. This suggests that

the lady can only be secure with the speaker.Furthermore, the speaker refers to the lady as ‘ newfoundland’ (America). The metaphor implies that the lady is like a country and the speaker was to conquer her as she would be new territory for him to explore. Interestingly, colonial expedition was often metaphorically represented as conquering a ‘ female’ territory. Not only was it described as ‘ woman’ but newfoundlands were usually referred to as virgin lands, being the case in the poem.

The speaker wants to conquer his virgin mistress by making it ‘ one man manned’ or introduced to only one sexual partner.Modern readers might consider how natives were exploited during colonialism. Similarly, the speaker might want to exploit her inexperience. The quote is flanked by commas and this is caesura. The caesura emphasizes the speaker’s ownership of the lady. The lady might feel offended as she is being treated like an inanimate object.

In John Donne’s To His Mistress Going To Bed, he uses empathy in order to seduce his mistress. Firstly, the speaker describes womens jewellery as ‘ Atlanta’s ball’. In Greek mythology, Atlanta rejected all suitors who could not defeat her in a race.But, Hippomenes eventually defeated her by dropping golden apples along the race trail, which Atlanta stopped to pick up.

This shows that men are only interested in womens jewellery but the speaker tries to show empathy but expressing the fact that he is not like other men. The speaker encourages the lady to think that sex is about a spiritual connection in order to seduce her. The speaker describe their love as a ‘ hallowed temple’. The reference

to the temple is a metaphor for their bed. This implies that their sexual connection will be holy and it will have it’s foundation in love.