Full Answer
What is the theme of the poem 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!”.
When was “to his Coy Mistress” written?
“To His Coy Mistress” is one of his famous metaphysical poems. He wrote this poem during the English Interregnum (1649-60). The poem was first published posthumously (after the poet’s death) in 1681, in “ Miscellaneous Poems ” but it may have been circulated as manuscript before that. It’s a renowned carpe-diem poem in English literature.
What is the meaning of apostrophe in the poem to his Coy Mistress?
An apostrophe in literature is generally an exclamatory address to an absent person or to a personified thing. This coyness, lady, were no crime. In the poem “To His Coy Mistress”, the speaker is a lover and he address his message to his ladylove. The entire poem is in the form of an address to her using the pronouns like ‘thy’, ‘thou’ ‘you’ etc.
What is the meaning of to his Coy Mistress by Marvell?
‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell is a poem that dates back to the Restoration period. At that time, the bounds and restraints of the Catholic ideals were beginning to fall apart. The restoration of Charles II made Protestant religion strong in England.
What is the meaning of the poem To His Coy Mistress?
“To His Coy Mistress” is a metaphysical poem in which the speaker attempts to persuade his resistant lover that they should have sexual intercourse. He explains that if they had all the time in the world, he would have no problem with their relationship moving this slowly.
What is the conclusion of the poem To His Coy Mistress?
Marvell ends with another reference to Apollo, concluding, “Thus, though we cannot make our sun / Stand still, yet we will make him run.” They cannot stop time, but they use it in a way that will leave them victorious.
What do the last two lines of To His Coy Mistress mean?
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.
Why does he refer to her coyness as a crime?
In To His Coy Mistress Why does he refer to her “coyness” as a “crime”? To make it seem a violation of law of nature.
What does two hundred to adore each breast mean?
Lines 13-17 Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least to every part, Anyhow, he says that, if he had time, he would give her compliments about each of her individual body parts, and he would spend a bazillion years doing it.
What is the meaning of "to his coy mistress"?
‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell is a poem that dates back to the Restoration period. At that time, the bounds and restraints of the Catholic ideals were beginning to fall apart. 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 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 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 a 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.
What does the poet think of the coyness of the lady?
Here, the poet thinks the coyness of the lady might kill the amorous spirit of his persona. In “long love’s day”, there is an alliteration as well as a personification. Here, the poet innovatively personifies love. The poetic persona uses several hyperboles while wooing his lady love.
What is the allusion in the poem "Love you ten years before the flood"?
The poet uses allusions in the following lines, “Love you ten years before the flood” and “Till the conversion of the Jews”. The “flood” refers to Noah’s flood. The second line contains a biblical allusion to the conversion of the Jews. In the poem, “vegetable love” is a metaphor or specifically a metaphysical conceit.
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 –
How does Andrew Marvell indicate love in his poem To His Coy Mistress?
He turns their love into far more than the poem can hold by using expressions such as ‘love you ten years before the Flood’, thus allegorizing it in almost Biblical terms, ‘vegetable love’, which shows how slow and how steady it grows (hinting, as always, at a huge advancement), and then stating that ‘a hundred years’
What is the conclusion of To His Coy Mistress?
He and his mistress should be chasing his time and the opportunities it brings to them. To conclude, Andrew Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress” effectively explores the concepts of carpe diem and tempus fugit. By using the theme of time he shows the hold it has on us all and any moment given should be seized.
What does the speaker say to his lover in To His Coy Mistress?
He says he would spend a “hundred years . . . to praise / (her) eyes” and “Two hundred to adore each breast.” The implication is that the woman has perhaps told him that she is not ready to have sex with him, possibly because he has not proven to her yet that he really loves her.
What does the speaker mean when he describes his mistress as coy?
In describing his mistress as coy, the speaker is here suggesting that her supposed shyness or modesty is simply a front. In reality, a woman who is coy is simply leading on her lover, making herself as alluring as possible through this pretense of modesty and being uninterested. In the poem, the speaker is trying to persuade his mistress ...
What does the speaker say in To His Coy Mistress?
The speaker in " To His Coy Mistress " is trying to persuade the woman he's addressing to stop being coy —meaning specifically that she should stop being shy about sex. Even more specifically, he wants her to stop being shy about having sex with him. In the opening lines of the poem, the speaker says that the woman's coyness wouldn't be a problem ...
What does the speaker say in the opening lines of the poem?
In the opening lines of the poem, the speaker says that the woman's coyness wouldn't be a problem if they had all the time in the world. He says that, if they did have all the time in the world, he would gladly spend as much of that time as she wanted in wooing her.
What does the speaker try to convince the woman in the third stanza?
In the third stanza, the speaker tries to convince the woman that they should take advantage of their youth before time—their common enemy—takes it away from them. He frames her coyness as an "affront" to (or a waste of) their youth, as well as a surrender to "the slow-chapped power" of time.
What does "coy" mean in English?
In English, however, it quickly took on another nuance. Almost invariably applied to women, the word "coy" connotes a sort of affected modesty which is really concealing a desire which the woman is pretending isn't there . For such a small word, "coy" implies a lot.
Why does the woman tell him she is not ready to have sex with him?
The implication is that the woman has perhaps told him that she is not ready to have sex with him, possibly because he has not proven to her yet that he really loves her. In the first stanza, the speaker tries to reassure the woman that this is not the case.
When was the poem "Failured Woman" written?
This poem was written in the seventeenth century when a woman was expected to preserve her virginity until she was married. A woman who had sex before or outside of marriage was considered a "fallen woman"—or an outcast who was no longer fit for marriage.
What does "seize the day" mean in the poem?
The poem opens by the speaker putting his case straightforward. He laments that they would court forever; however, time does not allow and this fact calls the mistress to do away with her coyness and seize the moment.
What is the speaker's fear of time?
Time is one thing that the speaker fears the most. He is not very sure of what will happen tomorrow. This fear is so pronounced that he thinks that coyness or delay in doing what someone should be doing is a crime. The only time he and the mistress have to use is now and that why he says that they should devour it because in future, it will be of no use. Therefore, it is better they utilize every single minute that they have.
