The poems “To his coy mistress”and “In Paris With You” Essay Example

With You’, contrast is used in the way that it is written in a paradoxical manner. This is because the poem is written in a positive tone but negative words are used. The first stanza is written with bitterness and regret with the author wallowing in self-pity, but you can tell it is not entirely serious as he uses a made up word or hapax-legomenon ‘maroonded’ which is a play on marooned so that it rhymes; this adds humour and creates a light-hearted nature. Another way love is presented in both poems is through humour and innuendo.

Innuendo is used in ‘In Paris With You’ through the phrases ‘doing this and that to what and whom’ which suggests physical intimacy, and the phrase ‘all points south’ which is a reference to the body of his lover. These suggestive and flirtatious phrases create a light-hearted mood. In the same way, crude innuendo is used in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ through the phrase ‘my vegetable love should grow vaster than empires’. This is also used to lighten the mood and amuse the reader, perhaps even his mistress whom he is trying to coax towards him.

In this way, these poems are very different in the way that in ‘In Paris with you’ the speaker is egotistical and self pitying which is evident In the first lines ‘don’t talk to me of love, I’ve had an earful and I get tearful when I’ve downed a drink or two’. You can tell that the speaker is egotistical, as he appears overbearing and there is repetition of the first personal pronoun. Conversely, the speaker of ‘To His Coy

Mistress’ is extremely flattering towards his lover in the line ‘A hundred years should go to praise thine eyes and ... thirty thousand to the rest’. The poem is almost a plea to his lover, which shows how passionate he is.