What is the main theme of To His Coy Mistress?
The poem treats the conventional theme of the conflict between love and time in a witty and ironic manner. The poet opens by telling his mistress that, given all the time in the world, he would spend hundreds of years praising each part of her body, while she could spend hundreds of years refusing his advances.
What is the symbolism in To His Coy Mistress?
The "Indian Ganges" and "rubies," when taken together in this context, can be symbols of imperialism, especially to us, today. When we consider that he generally insults the mistress in this section, the colonialists, by way of rubies and India, become a metaphor for the mistress.
What is the irony in To His Coy Mistress?
Answer and Explanation: Examples of irony in To His Coy Mistress are in the parts where the poet basically tells the mistress that if they wait as long as she would like to wait to get together, they will be waiting until they are dead.
What do the last two lines of To His Coy Mistress mean?
Lines 45-46 In this final couplet (a couplet is a stanza made up of two lines, usually rhyming), the speaker seems a little bit calmer. He talks about the sun now, instead of time. In his time, the sun is thought to control time. In the end, he admits that sex is a compromise.
What does the flea symbolize in the flea?
'The Flea' is a 17th-century English poem by John Donne and uses a flea as a metaphor to explore the sexual union between a man and a woman. The speaker in the poem shows a flea to a young lady that has apparently bitten both of them.
What symbols can be found in the poem Break Break Break?
The speaker emotionally commands the sea to “break”. He wants the sea waves to break on the cliffs; but it is also possible to interpret the lines as demanding to 'break' the cold gray stones of the cliff. The 'cold gray stones' are symbolic of the hardened heart of his inexpressible grief.
What is the theme of To His Coy Mistress?
‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell hovers around several themes. The major theme of the poem is carpe diem. Carpe diem is a Latin phrase that means “seize the day!”. Andrew Marvell loved this theme and wrote many poems based on it. In this poem, the poet says that waiting for the right moment to make love, is nothing but the wastage of time. The poetic persona and his beloved should indulge in physical love before their bodies start to become old. The main idea of the poem is, enjoying the moment by forgetting about the future. There is nothing in the future. So, the gentleman in the poem implores his lady love to seize the moment and make love as they have never done before.
What is a couplet form in poetry?
The lines in the poem are composed of closed couplet form. It means that each line of the poem rhymes with the line next to it. Such a couplet form presents an idea in the unit of two lines. It was famous in the Neoclassical period. Poets like Alexander Pope, John Dryden, and Andrew Marvell were fond of this couplet form. They got the inspiration for using neat and concise couplets from the classical writers of Greece and Rome. However, the rhyme scheme of the poem is also very simple. The lines of the poem contain the AABB rhyme scheme.
What is the iambic foot in To His Coy Mistress?
‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell is written in iambic tetrameter, where the lines consist of four iambic feet. This is not the more commonly used iambic pentameter, which has five iambic feet. An iamb is an unstressed syllable, followed by a stressed syllable. It is also interesting to note that ‘To His Coy Mistress’ itself is written much like a poetic thesis, with the problem at the forefront, followed by the current predicament, and ending with the solution, all from the point of view of the lovelorn gentleman who is trying to get his beloved’s affection.
What is the theme of To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell?
The restoration of Charles II made Protestant religion strong in England. The Whigs or the Parliamentarians tried to make it the official religion of England. Hence, the poetry of that period reflected the political and religious scenario. Marvell’s poems are the specimens of the sentiment of Restoration England. His speaker reflects Protestant enthusiasm. It is the reason the poet was fond of the theme of “carpe diem”.
What are metaphysical poets?
The metaphysical poets were men of learning, and, to show their learning was their whole endeavour; but, unluckily resolving to show it in rhyme, instead of writing poetry, they only wrote verses, and, very often, such verses as stood the trial of the finger better than of the ear; for the modulation was so imperfect, that they were only found to be verses by counting the syllables… The most heterogeneous ideas are yoked by violence together; nature and art are ransacked for illustrations, comparisons, and allusions; their learning instructs, and their subtilty surprises; but the reader commonly thinks his improvement dearly bought, and, though he sometimes admires, is seldom pleased.
How many couplets are there in Carpe Diem?
In these first lines, there are ten couplets, and mimics a traditional format – in this case, the poem itself, although written in the form of a love poem, does not aspire to such lofty heights; the gentleman wishes only for his lady to give in to his sexual advances, and so the use of the traditional love elegy format (otherwise known as ‘carpe diem’ poetry) might seem as though it is ironically used. However, given that this was written at a time when such emotion was not freely expressed, the beauty of the language and the overwhelming focus on the woman’s beauty, the respect is shown therein, makes the poem quite progressive for its time.
What is the significance of the Indian Ganges in the poem?
The reference to the “Indian Ganges”, reflects the English mindset of expansion and celebration of national glory. Marvell also tries to capture it in his poem.
In Short
In Andrew Marvell’s metaphysical poem “To His Coy Mistress”, the speaker addresses his ladylove who is shy and not responsive to his call for love.
Into details
Andrew Marvell was a metaphysical poet writing in the interregnum period. “To His Coy Mistress” is one of his famous metaphysical poems. He wrote this poem during the English Interregnum (1649-60).
Symbols
It’s a very powerful symbol used in the poem “To His Coy Mistress”. Time and mortality are the prime concern of this poem. It means mortals can’t escape from the destroying power of time. Death will come in its swift way. We can do nothing to defeat time. So, when we get the opportunity, we should use it.
Literary Devices
An end-stopped line is a line of verse that ends with a punctuation. Many lines in the poem “To His Coy Mistress” are end-stopped lines. For examples –
What is the theme of Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress"?
Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” is a carpe diem poem in which the speaker urges his mistress to submit to desire and sleep with him. He argues that if she continues in her coy behaviors, they will grow too old for love—and Time, whom Marvell personifies, will defeat them.
What is the meaning of "to his coy mistress"?
A ndrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" is a carpe diem poem in which the speaker attempts to convince his beloved to seize the day and act on her passion. In the first stanza, the speaker reassures his beloved that he would spend forever courting her if he had the time. In the second stanza, the speaker laments the brevity ...
What is the theme of To His Coy Mistress?
More than a love poem, “To His Coy Mistress” is a meditation on time and death. Marvell dramatizes the questions: What are the implications of physicality and mortality? In using time most wisely, should one focus on this life or the afterlife? Marvell avoids a simple, conventional answer, and the poem works well as an argument for either view.
What is the final stanza of the poem about love?
The final stanza, in which he urges action, presents a problematic vision of love. He compares himself and his lover to sportive animals, specifically “amorous birds of prey,” an odd image to use in attempting to win his lady.
What does the speaker say in the second stanza of the poem?
In the second stanza, the speaker laments the brevity of life and darkly intones that death comes for everyone. In the third and final stanza, the speaker completes his argument by urging his beloved to fight back against time and indulge her passions while she is still young.
What would the speaker be able to grow his love for?
The speaker would be able to grow his love for her “vaster than empires and more slow.”. In a world without time, he would be able to spend “an age at least” admiring every part of her, from her body to her heart.
Is Time's winged chariot a fantasy?
However, this is only a fantasy, as Marvell makes clear with the coordinating conjunction “but” at the beginning of the second stanza. The speaker is aware that “time’s winged chariot” is always in pursuit of the two lovers: each day that his mistress meets his advances with her coyness is a day closer to their deaths and ensuing entrances ...
Why is "to his coy mistress" a poem?
To His Coy Mistress has been rightly lauded as a small masterpiece of a poem, primarily because it packs so much into a relatively small space. It manages to carry along on simple rhyming couplets the complex passions of a male speaker, hungry for sexual liason with a lady, before all devouring time swallows them up.
Why is Marvell considered a metaphysical poet?
Marvell is known today as one of the metaphysical poets (alongside such names as John Donne, Henry Vaughan, George Herbert and Richard Crashaw) because he wrote on subjects such as man's place in the universe, existence, love and religion. To His Coy Mistress is a clever, well structured poem, a dramatic monologue in effect, ...
How many lines are there in To His Coy Mistress?
To His Coy Mistress is a 46 line single stanza, split into three sections. Some modern versions available online show 3 distinct stanzas but the original is indeed one stanza with indented lines at 21 and 33.
What is the purpose of the poem "To His Coy Mistress"?
To His Coy Mistress is a clever, well structured poem, a dramatic monologue in effect, the speaker progressing logically through the stages of persuasion in an effort to turn the lady's head and heart. He wants to deflower her before it's too late.
What is the theme of To His Coy Mistress?
It focuses on the lustful desires of a man attempting to entice a female virgin, the mistress, into sexual intimacy.
What are the rhyming couplets in the book?
The rhyming couplets are mostly full end rhyme, aabbccdd and so on, which shows a tight knit relationship. Only lines 23/24 and 27/28 are imperfect - with slant rhyme, lie/eternity and try/virginity.
What is the argument in the poem "The Lady's Coyness"?
As you can see, the argument builds up through the three sections of the poem, starting off with the speaker's assertion that the lady's coyness (shyness, modesty) wouldn't be deemed a moral crime if they had all the world in which to spend time together.
Time's Winged Chariot
Time and mortality are a constant concern in Andrew Marvell 's "To His Coy Mistress." Time's winged chariot is not an allusion to any specific figure, but the image conjures characters from Greek mythology that are powerful and vengeful.
Deserts of Eternity
The poem's second stanza has many images of the dust and ash of a graveyard or mausoleum. These images of desolation are summed up by the phrase "Deserts of vast eternity." The speaker has no reason to believe that the future will be any less fruitful than the present.
Birds of Prey
The speaker imagines the lovers, having decided to love each other, as amorous birds of prey devouring time whole. This image, which conjures hawks or vultures ripping flesh and gulping it down, serves multiple purposes. It represents a shift in the lovers' relationship with time in the poem.
The Iron Gates of Life
The image of iron gates evokes something closed off behind an imposing barrier. Carrying through with the theme of the final stanza, it is an obstacle the lovers must actively overcome to enjoy the pleasures of life. They will not find happiness in passive waiting but need to seize the day for themselves.
The Sun
In the last stanza the sun represents time as a whole, but it also represents the end point of the diminishing increments of time throughout the poem. The first stanza talks about thousands of years, all of history past and all of history to come.
What is the Petrarchan poem about?
Petrarchan poetry is based upon rarifying and distancing the female beloved, making her into an unattainable object. In this poem, though, the speaker only uses these devices to suggest that distancing himself from his lover is mindless, because they do not have the limitless time necessary for the speaker to praise the Lady sufficiently.
What is Marvell's blazon?
Marvell praises the lady’s beauty by complimenting her individual features using a device called an erotic blazon , which also evokes the influential techniques of 15th and 16th century Petrarchan love poetry. Petrarchan poetry is based upon rarifying and distancing the female beloved, making her into an unattainable object.
What does the speaker say once the Lady dies?
Once dead, he assures the Lady, her virtues and her beauty will lie in the grave along with her body as it turns to dust.
What is the theme of the poem "Seize the Day"?
Analysis: Marvell wrote this poem in the classical tradition of a Latin love elegy, in which the speaker praises his mistress or lover through the motif of carpe diem, or “seize the day.”. The poem also reflects the tradition of the erotic blazon, in which a poet constructs elaborate images of his lover’s beauty by carving her body into parts.
Why does the speaker say the Lady's shyness and hesitancy would be acceptable if the two?
But because they are finite human beings, he thinks they should take advantage of their sensual embodiment while it lasts.
