The concept of human mortality has long been a prominent theme in metaphysical poetry. It acknowledges that life inevitably comes to an end, imposing a finite duration on everyone's existence. This subject matter also prompts contemplation on matters of sexuality. In Andrew Marvell's "To his Coy Mistress," the poem explores the fleeting nature of beauty and its connection to sexuality. The speaker in the poem is a young man who ardently seeks to convince a woman to engage in sexual intimacy since her physical attractiveness will eventually fade away with time. Consequently, he urges them both to shed their inhibitions immediately and embrace the pleasures of physical love.
During the Commonwealth Period, the theme of "carpe diem" or seizing the day was prominent (Chernaik: 101). In this poem, Marvell explores this theme as
...the speaker urges his mistress to forget about the future and enjoy their time together in the present moment. However, despite his attempts, the speaker's doubts are evident in his choice of vocabulary, language, and writing style, rendering his words unconvincing.
The poem begins with the speaker expressing a desire for more time ("Had we but world enough and time", l. 1), which sets a romantic tone as the audience anticipates the speaker's wish to use this time to spend loving moments with their beloved, ensuring an eternal bond. However, in the second line, this longing for eternity abruptly transforms into a demand for the mistress to cease her flirtatious behavior, as time is too limited for such coyness.
The speaker's genuine interest is displayed in this shift of perspective. Instead of desiring eternal love, th
speaker is solely focused on fulfilling their physical desires. This anticipation of a conclusion to the entire poem reveals that the desire for sex outweighs the expected romantic love story. The poem lacks conviction due to numerous passages emphasizing style and vocabulary choices that highlight this message.
In lines three and four, the speaker gives another example that refers back to the first line. They express a desire to enjoy their love with each other if they had enough time for it. However, the way this is presented creates an impression that the speaker is not truly enthusiastic about this situation. The expression "walk and pass our long love's life" (l. 4) conveys a desire to swiftly move past it like an illness that must be endured, despite its unpleasantness. Later on in the poem (l. 13-18), there are instances of awkward language usage when the speaker compliments her beauty and counts the years of their love.
It would take a century to praise your eyes and admire your forehead, and two centuries to worship each of your breasts. However, it would require thirty thousand years to appreciate the rest of your body. In total, it would take an entire lifetime to fully honor every part of you.
The interesting thing is that he is encouraging to love both her body and heart, despite his initial focus on physical attraction. However, by mentioning her heart ("And the last age should show your heart", l. 18), it shows his genuine interest. It seems like he only mentions her heart because he thinks she may want to hear it. Yet, if he truly loved
her, he would probably prioritize her heart from the start instead of devoting over thirty thousand years to her body and only one year to her heart.
His writing style showcases his sexual desires, as evidenced by his use of a structured poem that presents reasoned arguments. If he truly desired his mistress, he would passionately express his words and emotions without hesitation. However, during that time, the only way to convince a lady of higher class of one's love was to write a poem and dedicate it to her (Wronski: 2-3). Yet, his words seem too calculated and fail to achieve their intended purpose of persuasion. Furthermore, his lack of logical argumentation undermines his credibility and makes him unconvincing.
In verse seven of the poem, the contradictory argumentation is displayed clearly. The speaker expresses his love for the woman, stating that he would have loved her "ten years before the Flood". However, he also urges her to refuse, using the excuse of waiting for "the Convention of the Jews". This suggestion reveals the speaker's dishonest argumentation, as he knows it is unlikely for him to win over a woman from a higher social class. Reminding her of this fact will not improve his chances. He reiterates that there is no time for her to refuse until "the Convention of the Jews".
"And so, she should stop rejecting him and instead decide to love him. The difficulties in conveying the speaker's feelings at this moment in the poem show their confusion and inability to convince. It seems like they are trying to make their argument sound logical just to impress the
lady. However, these unclear thoughts only emphasize their own lack of certainty. The most significant part of the poem can be seen in lines 13 to 18, combined with lines 25 to 32."
The speaker admires the lady's beauty and vows to love her for an extensive period of time. However, it is implied that she will die before the 300,000 years of love are over. This implies that the speaker professes to still love her even after her death, contradicting the belief that her beauty and his song will fade after death and making it impossible for him to continue loving her.
Thy beauty will cease to exist, never to be found again. My echoing song will no longer resound in your marble tomb. Then worms will attempt to invade your long-preserved purity, and your unique honor will crumble into dust. All my desires will turn into ashes. The grave is a beautiful and secluded place, but I don't think anyone embraces there. (l. 25-32)
The statement is clearly illogical and unconvincing, almost a lie. Additionally, the speaker's argument fails to persuade due to one exceptionally illogical aspect. The speaker bluntly illustrates how his mistress's beauty will fade and how swiftly she will pass away. Consequently, he suggests having sex as an enticing offer, although it will never prevent her from aging and dying.
So, one might wonder if the speaker would scare his mistress instead of persuading her to undress and fulfill his sexual desires (Ruggiero et al., 367). In summary, the speaker falls short in convincing the reader that he is not only physically interested but that love
also plays a significant role in the poem. The speaker's vocabulary choice, writing style, and tone all contribute to his failure in persuading the discerning reader that his professed love is genuine.
Furthermore, the argument put forth is both illogical and contradictory. It initiates by stating that if they were immortal, their time would be spent in love with each other. Subsequently, it elaborates on the passing of time and reaches the conclusion that they ought to engage in sexual activity without delay. Although she possesses beauty and allure, the mistress displays a certain coyness and shyness; however, the poet remains convinced that his poem will likely sway her and leave a lasting impression as it extensively praises her attractiveness. Therefore, this poem also serves as a reflection of Marvel's perspective on society during that particular era.
- Age Of Enlightenment essays
- Ethos essays
- Time essays
- Acceptance essays
- Meaning Of Life essays
- Reality essays
- Natural Law essays
- Political Philosophy essays
- Utilitarianism essays
- Existence essays
- Free Will essays
- Good And Evil essays
- Confucianism essays
- Relativism essays
- Conscience essays
- Environmentalism essays
- Empiricism essays
- Epistemology essays
- Ethics essays
- Existentialism essays
- Human Nature essays
- Individualism essays
- Metaphysics essays
- Philosophy Of Life essays
- Transcendentalism essays
- Truth essays
- Destiny essays
- Determinism essays
- Fate essays
- Functionalism essays
- Philosophers essays
- Pragmatism essays
- Future essays
- Child Observation essays
- Critical Reflection essays
- Teaching Philosophy essays
- Personal Philosophy essays
- Action Speak Louder Than Words essays
- Can Money Buy Happiness essays
- Values of Life essays
- Ethical dilemma essays
- Normative Ethics essays
- Virtue Ethics essays
- Belief essays
- Deontology essays
- Moral essays
- Virtue essays
- Work Ethic essays
- Henry David Thoreau essays
- Carl Jung essays