Andre Marvell‟s “To His Coy Mistress summary and analysis theme

Andre Marvell‟s “To His Coy Mistress”

To His Coy Mistress Summary

"To His Coy Mistress" is divided into three stanzas or poetic paragraphs. It’s spoken by a nameless man, who doesn’t reveal any physical or biographical details about himself, to a nameless woman, who is also biography-less.

During the first stanza, the speaker tells the mistress that if they had more time and space, her "coyness" (see our discussion on the word "coy" in "What’s Up With the Title?") wouldn’t be a "crime." He extends this discussion by describing how much he would compliment her and admire her, if only there was time. He would focus on "each part" of her body until he got to the heart (and "heart," here, is both a metaphor for sex, and a metaphor for love).

In the second stanza he says, "BUT," we don’t have the time, we are about to die! He tells her that life is short, but death is forever. In a shocking moment, he warns her that, when she’s in the coffin, worms will try to take her "virginity" if she doesn’t have sex with him before they die. If she refuses to have sex with him, there will be repercussions for him, too. All his sexual desire will burn up, "ashes" for all time.

In the third stanza he says, "NOW," I’ve told you what will happen when you die, so let’s have sex while we’re still young. Hey, look at those "birds of prey" mating. That’s how we should do it – but, before that, let’s have us a little wine and time (cheese is for sissies). Then, he wants to play a game – the turn ourselves into a "ball" game. (Hmmm.) He suggests, furthermore, that they release all their pent up frustrations into the sex act, and, in this way, be free.

In the final couplet, he calms down a little. He says that having sex can’t make the "sun" stop moving. In Marvell’s time, the movement of the sun around the earth (we now believe the earth rotates around the sun) is thought to create time. Anyway, he says, we can’t make time stop, but we can change places with it. Whenever we have sex, we pursue time, instead of time pursuing us. This fellow has some confusing ideas about sex and time. Come to think of it, we probably do, too. "To His Coy Mistress" offers us a chance to explore some of those confusing thoughts.

Lines 1-2

Had we but world enough, and time,

This coyness, Lady, were no crime

• The speaker starts off by telling the mistress that if there was enough time and enough space ("world enough, and time"), then her "coyness" (see "What’s up with the title" for some definitions) wouldn’t be a criminal act.
• This is a roundabout way of calling her a criminal, and makes us think of jails, courtrooms, and punishments.
• Hmmm. What exactly is her crime? What is she being "coy" about?

Lines 3-4

We would sit down and think which way

To walk and pass our long love's day.

• In any case, he continues…. If they had all the time and space they wanted, they could Google everything, read guide books, and carefully consider where they might go next, while aimlessly strolling and resting whenever they pleased.

Line 5

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

• She could hang out on the bank of the "Indian Ganges" finding "rubies."
• The Ganges River is considered sacred and holy by many people all over the world. In Marvell’s time, the Ganges is pure and pristine. Now, many parts of it are incredibly polluted.

Lines 5-6

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide

• And, he would be across the world at the Humber tidal estuary, skipping in the froth from the waves and whining. (Actually, he says "complain," which also means "love song.")
• This would place them far away from each other, obviously.
• The speaker doesn’t sound thrilled at the idea of a long-distance relationship.

Lines 7-10

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the Flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

• He would go back in time to Noah and the Flood, and forward in time to the "conversion of the Jews," all the while loving her.
• The speaker’s grand, Biblical language mocks poems which describe love in divine terms.

Lines 11-12

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires, and more slow;

• Then, we get one of the poem’s most famous lines. The speaker starts telling the mistress about his "vegetable love."
• Much debate occurs over the meaning of this term.
• The word "slow" in line 12 gives us a clue. We think "vegetable love" is "organic love" – love without the pressure of anything but nature, a natural process resulting in something nourishing – vegetables.
• But, be careful. Since it’s organic, vegetable love will cost a little more in the grocery store.
• We can’t neglect another connotation, either.
• A certain part of the male anatomy is shaped like certain members of the vegetable kingdom. Vegetable love also refers to that.
• Some literary critics think the "vegetable" in "vegetable love" refers to the female anatomy, as well.
• We’ll let you do the math on your own.

Lines 13-17

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;

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.

Line 18

And the last age should show your heart.

• And then, finally, after all that complimenting, she would "show [her] heart," presumably by having sex with him.

Line 19-20

For, Lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

• You’re worth it, too, he says, and I wouldn’t give you anything less than that first-class love.
• The word "rate" cleverly links with the word "heart" of the previous line, making us think of "heart rate."

Lines 21-22

But at my back I always hear

Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;

• And, then, he gives her a huge gigantic "BUT." Ouch. You see, the speaker hears something behind him: "Time’s winged chariot," to be exact.
• He’s being chased down by Time’s hybrid car!
• He doesn’t say who’s driving, but we can assume it’s probably Time.

Lines 23-24

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

• Then, he seems to have a hallucination.
• Look, he tells the mistress, look at all this sand. The future is just endless sand.
• We’re all going to die.

Line 25

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

• And you won’t look so pretty there, missy.

Lines 26

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

• You sure won’t be able to hear my pretty song when you are in a "grave."

Lines 27-28

My echoing song: then worms shall try

That long preserved virginity,

• This next part is even creepier.
• The speaker tells the mistress that, in the grave, worms will have sex with her.
• According to the line, she’s a virgin.

Line 29

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

• In the grave, her "quaint honor" will completely disintegrate.
• According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, "quaint" is a euphemism that means "vagina."
• So, he’s telling her that she can’t take her virginity with her into the afterlife, and making icky jokes about her vagina.

Line 30

And into ashes all my lust:

• Next, he tells her that if they die without having sex together, his "lust" or desire, will all burn up, with nothing left but the "ashes."
• Interestingly, he seems to imply that, if he can’t have sex with her, he won’t have sex at all.

Lines 31-32

The grave 's a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

• He rubs in the whole thing by telling her that coffins are great: they have lots of privacy, but no hugging!

Line 33

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

• Luckily, he leaves all that morbidity behind, and gives us the old "now, therefore." By this, the speaker suggests that his argument is successful, and that he’s about to tell the mistress what she should do, since his argument is so successful.

Lines 34-36

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

• He kind of brings her back from the grave here. Just a minute ago, he imagines her dead in the crypt, and, now, he tells her how young she is, and how her soul rushes around excitedly inside her, leaking out through her pores.
• "Transpire" has a few fun meanings that you can ponder.
• The first is "to come to light."
• The second is "to happen."
• The third actually has to do with plants. If a plant "transpires," it loses water vapor through its stomata (little pores on a plant's leaves), a crucial part of photosynthesis.

Line 37

Now let us sport us while we may,

• Since you are transpiring (rhymes with "perspiring") and all, let’s play some games, he tells her.
• Then, he gets a brilliant idea.

Line 38

And now, like amorous birds of prey,

• They should pretend to be birds of prey, mating!
• (Sounds a little dangerous to us.)
• Also, the word "prey" introduces violence, and therefore uneasiness, into the scene.

Line 39

Rather at once our time devour

• But, before the games begin, we should have a little pre-mating dinner.
• Here, honey, try this seared fillet-o-time, on a bed of vegetable love.
• And for dessert – time capsules!
• See, time deserves to be eaten.

Line 40

Than languish in his slow-chapt power.

• Time exerts its "slow-chapped power" over the speaker for far too long.
• According to the Norton Anthology of English Literature, "slow-chapped power" means "slowly devouring jaws."
• In short, he feels like he’s dying in Time’s mouth, and that time is slowly eating him up.
• He wants to turn the tables, and thinks that sex, or so he tells his mistress, is the way to get time under his control.

Lines 41-42

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

• Next comes his actual description of sex. The rolling up in a ball doesn’t sound so bad. "Strength" carries on the idea of sex as sport from line 37. Come to think of it, "ball" works that way, too.

Lines 43-44

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life:

• But, what’s with "tear" and "strife"?
• It makes sense from the speaker’s perspective.
• He claims to believe that sex is the way to another world, a way to break out of the prison of time.
• This also suggests that he thinks that bringing the "strife" of life into the bedroom will enhance the sexual experience.

Lines 45-46

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

• 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.
• They can’t use it to stop time, but they can use it to make time go faster.
• What? If time goes faster, won’t the speaker and the mistress die sooner?
• Not if he’s in control.
• And, not if, as we suggest in "Symbols, Images and Wordplay" under "The Great Beyond," the sun and time, also represent death.
• If they can make time run, it won’t have time to kill people.
• Er, or something like that.
• It’s not necessarily the most rational argument, but it has its charm.
• And, the speaker isn’t the first person to think that sex is the answer to all problems.
• In any case, the final couplet can give you food for thought for years.

Motion and Stillness

Symbol Analysis

"To His Coy Mistress" is very concerned with the full range of motion, including stillness. The motion helps the poem pick up speed, and the stillness lets us catch our breath and reflect for moments before we rush on. This back and forth also helps the speaker make his point. His portrayal of stillness isn’t very positive, while his moments of action are full of excitement and challenge, suggesting that our speaker is all about action.

• Lines 3-4: The speaker is big on hyperbole, and he uses it to suggest various speeds of motion and even stillness. "Picking rubies" implies a somewhat leisurely action (although actual ruby-picking is not leisurely at all).
• Lines 8-10: The speaker’s declaration that (if he had time) he would love her "ten years before the flood" and "till the conversion of the Jews" combines hyperbole and allusion to create motion, in this case a sense of rapid movement through time. He also uses the grand, Biblical language ironically to poke fun at the mistress, whom he accuses of wanting something timeless (like eternal love), while saying in the same breath that he would give this to her, too, if he has time. This might create the motion of the mistress running away from the speaker.
• Lines 18-19: The speaker uses "show your heart" as a metaphor for the mistress’s imagined agreement to finally have sex with him, implying faster action, and possibly a faster heartbeat. But, to emphasize the theme of mock leisure in this stanza, he slows things down by using the word "show," which rhymes with the "slow" of a previous line.
• Line 20: He then extends the "heart" metaphor in line 20 by introducing the word rate – as in heart rate, another kind of motion. We can’t neglect the sense of "rate" which means "price" or "cost." With this pun, he slyly accuses her of wanting to sell her love for compliments – which brings us back to the running away thing.
• Lines 45-46: The final lines of the poem employ a variety of fun techniques. The simple imagery of the word "sun," which makes us see yellow or orange or red as we read, combines with personification to deepen the image. We see a red-orange blur, wearing fiery running shoes. As you might suspect, Marvell’s ending flourish is even more sophisticated. The sun is also a metaphor for time. Time is an abstract concept (while the sun is an object we can see). By giving an abstract concept (time) human characteristics (running), the speaker personifies an abstraction, and we are left with an image of a bizarre red-orange clock wearing tennis shoes, trying to stay as far away from the speaker as possible.

The Imperial

Symbol Analysis

In the 1650s, the British Empire has its teeth firmly sunk into the land of India. Andrew Marvell was active politician, and very close with Oliver Cromwell – don’t mention his name if you are ever in Ireland! Without a thorough study, we can’t say exactly what Marvell’s role in British colonialism and imperialism is, but he probably had some hand in it.

Luckily, we are here to explore the poem, and the poem doesn’t say much about this issue, although what it does say is characteristically ambiguous. Nevertheless, the brief mention takes on significance, as we gaze back in to the world’s past.

• Line 5: As noted, the poem briefly alludes to imperialism. 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. She steals rubies from the Indian people. She steals sex from the speaker, by not having it with him. If she doesn’t stop abusing her power, she will leave him in ruins.
• Line 12: Yep, it’s the word "empire" that interests us here. Building an empire ain’t easy, and it takes time (though not as long as growing vegetables, apparently). Some would say the same of relationships. Thus, colonialism also becomes a metaphor for relationships. The speaker accuses the mistress of thinking that sex and relationships are something big and serious, like ruling the world (the goal of building an empire), when, in fact – or so he says later on – such things are as common for people as for birds. He accuses her of hyperbole, which is ironic, considering all of his hyperbole throughout the poem. If Marvell has anxiety concerning imperialism (which is highly possible), he picks a pretty sly way to talk about it. Of course, this poem wasn’t published until after he was dead.

The Great Unknown

Symbol Analysis

As we discuss in "In A Nutshell," Andrew Marvell is considered a Metaphysical Poet, which means, in part, that he was concerned with the mysteries of life, death, and the universe. The striking images of the unknown as imagined by the speaker might not give us any answers, but they entertain us and give us food for thought as we ponder all these deep things.

• Lines 21-22: What kind of chariot does time drive? The chariot is a nice example of metonymy. The chariot becomes a stand in for time. When the speaker hears the chariot behind him (which is all the time), he associates it with time. The imagery of wings helps us see the chariot, and even hear the sound it makes. This metonymical link between time and the chariot also personifies the abstract concept of time, by implying that time is behind the wheel of the chariot. Either that, or time’s chauffer is behind the wheel – but, if time has a driver, that’s still personification.
• Lines 27-30. Hyperbole turns nasty in this section. He makes the ridiculous suggestion that, if she dies a virgin, worms will have sex with her dead body. Ew. This vision of the unknown employs simple, but effective visual imagery.
• Lines 36-38. It’s possible that sex is unknown to the speaker, and he implies that it’s unknown to the mistress. His vision of sex, like most of what he envisions, is full of hyperbole. In one of the poem’s few similes, he likens their impending (so he hopes) sexual union to that of "birds of prey." While birds mating is innocent enough, the word "prey" sets us up for the weird violence that the speaker imagines taking place before they actually have sex.
• Line 39-40: His idea of foreplay is eating time. Conceiving time as something that can be devoured makes our head spin. In this case, time becomes a symbol for everything that the speaker thinks traps him. Ironically, the speaker wants to be nourished by the very thing that he wants to be rid of. The irony suggests a paradox. The speaker wants to be rid of time, but needs time in order to enjoy life.

To His Coy Mistress: Rhyme, Form & Meter

We’ll show you the poem’s blueprints, and we’ll listen for the music behind the words.

Dramatic Monologue, Iambic Tetrameter

"To His Coy Mistress" takes the form of a dramatic monologue, which pretty much means what it sounds like. The speaker of the poem does all the talking, which makes this a monologue, a speech by a single character. But, because he isn’t just talking to himself, but to another fictional character, the mistress, it’s "dramatic" – hence the term "dramatic monologue." Although the reader might identify with the speaker in a dramatic monologue, or even with the silent character addressed, there is always the sense that the reader eavesdrops on an intimate conversation. This sense is heightened in "To His Coy Mistress," because the speaker doesn’t give us any personal or biographical information about himself or the mistress to create separation between the characters and the readers.

The poem’s meter is "iambic tetrameter." Don’t let the fancy name scare you away. It’s not complicated. Even Dr. Seuss uses it, as in these lines from Green Eggs and Ham:

I would not like them here or there.

I would not like them anywhere.

I do not like green eggs and ham.

I do not like them Sam I Am.

You can think of an "iamb" as a unit of poetry consisting of two syllables. This unit is also called a "foot." In iambic tetrameter each line has four (tetra) such feet, or eight syllables in total. Pick a line from your poem to test it. If you read the poem aloud, or listen to it in your head (in a normal speaking voice, of course) you will see that in each foot, or iamb, or pair of syllables, one syllable is stressed, while the other is not. Notice also that the poem has forty-six lines, or twenty-three pairs of lines. We call these pairs "couplets," and, in the case of "To His Coy Mistress," the two lines that make up each couplet rhyme with each other.

Speaker Point of View

Who is the speaker, can she or he read minds, and, more importantly, can we trust her or him?

Our speaker is anonymous. He could be any man, anywhere. He’s an intense guy. He speaks very beautifully, rhyming everything so that we are barely aware of it and using the perfect word every time. We could listen to him say "amorous birds of prey" all day – as long as he doesn’t bring up worms, for crying out loud. (Although some people really like that part.)

We have to face it. He has a mean streak that probably isn’t much fun to deal with in a real-life relationship. But, even if he isn’t fictional, his lust for life would probably charm us. It’s hard not to get excited when he gets excited. Did we mention that he has a way with words?

In addition to beauty, his speech is so thick with irony and sarcasm that it’s hard to know if he ever says what he means, or means what he says. So, maybe all his hurtful words are just jokes. Sigh. He’s so talented, too, surprising us with little jokes. It’s fun to think about all the stuff he brings up: time and the afterlife and whatnot.

But, he’s way too persistent and needs too much attention. He’s a high maintenance speaker. And, his paranoid fantasies of slaying time get to be a bit much on occasion, as funny and clever as they are.

The more times we read the poem, the less sure we are about who the speaker is and what he’s about. On the other hand, no matter how many times we read it, the language that the speaker uses never gets old. Some fresh insight is always embedded in his unique way of talking.

To His Coy Mistress Setting

Where It All Goes Down

There are (at least) two layers of setting involved in "To His Coy Mistress" – the setting we imagine, and the setting that the speaker imagines.

In terms of where the poem is set – where he writes or tells it to the mistress, we can let our imaginations go. The speaker might write the poem in a lonely, depressed state in the poorly lit bar of a rundown hotel. Or, maybe he’s like John Malkovich in Dangerous Liaisons – in a room, using the back of a woman with whom he’s just slept with as a desk on which to write the letter. Or, maybe the speaker and the mistress tour some exotic city together, and the sights inspire him to make up the poem as he goes along. Which brings us to that second layer we mentioned.

The literal setting of "To His Coy Mistress" is one area where we can let our imaginations rest a little. The speaker doesn’t leave everything to our imagination, after all. He does much of the hardest work himself. He takes us, and the mistress (whether or not she is with him when she receives the poem), on a very specific tour. Grab your copy of the poem and check it out. The setting plays a major role in moving the poem along. If you consider our theme "Freedom and Confinement," you can see the poem move from confinement, to freedom, to confinement, to freedom.

In the first stanza, the speaker starts with "crime." He then moves to the Ganges River in India and the Humber Estuary in England. From there, he moves to the body of the mistress, or, at least, "each part." Finally, he goes inside her body, to her heart.

In the second stanza the setting gets creepy quickly. "Deserts of vast eternity," has a beautiful ring to it – and even a feeling of freedom, albeit a lonely freedom. The speaker snatches that image away though, and leads us into a "marble vault" (otherwise known as "the grave").

The third stanza is like a setting resurrection. The poem bursts from "the grave" into "the morning dew," and, then, beyond the mistress’s body, into her "soul." The speaker then imagines their union, and the setting moves up into the sky with the "amorous birds of prey."

In the final couplet, the setting seems dangerous. We feel like the speaker stands very near to the sun, and that he might get burned.

Sound Check

Read this poem aloud. What do you hear?

Poetry is an art obsessed by sound, and there is a blurry line between songwriting and poetry. One big distinction is that songwriters often write the music that goes with their lyrics, while the "music" of a poem is contained within the lyrics, the arrangement of the words on the page. Some poems are more about sound than others. Walt Whitman’s "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" is about how a man becomes a poet when he understands the songs of birds. "To His Coy Mistress" doesn’t go that far, but it still has a lot to do with sound.

You can sing poems, but they are more commonly read aloud. True to parodies and stereotypes of people reading poetry, you will run across people reading them in exaggeratedly super-serious tones, or making wild sounds, or anything silly you can imagine. If you choose to read poems out loud, we suggest reading poetry in a normal speaking voice, letting the lines guide you.

You’ve probably noticed that poets often throw traditional rules of grammar out the window, so don’t let it throw you if the grammar doesn’t seem to make sense. These are usually lines where the poet playing with language. If you read such lines over several times, the poet’s game will usually reveal itself.

Reading a poem out loud, or listening carefully to it in your head if you can’t read it aloud, as many times as you wish, is almost sure to reveal something meaningful about the poem. The revelation might be something ugly, or something beautiful, or even the belief that the poem makes no sense and has nothing to do with you. And, that’s OK, too.

While similar sounding and obviously all part of the same poem, we think that each of the poem’s three stanzas sound a little different from each other. The first stanza, where the speaker describes the idealized world in which the mistress’s "coyness" wouldn’t be a "crime," sounds both fast and slow. The sound of "vegetable love" slows us down. Try to say it fast. Veg-e-ta-ble-love. It’s not natural. "Gaze" is another word that doesn’t want to be said fast. The pace of words like "flood," "refuse," and "rate" speeds things up until we get to the "but" of the second stanza.

Here, something exciting happens. The speaker tells us that he hears something behind him, all the time – "Time’s winged chariot." When we say "time’s winged chariot," we hear a sound like paper, and wind, and wings beating. Scary. No wonder this guy is afraid of time.

He’s so afraid of the sound that it drives him to imagine himself and the mistress dead. The poem begins to sound less like a love poem and more like the work of a twisted creep-o. "Lust" and "dust" and "worms" – when taken together, these sound very formal, dark, and funereal. "Vast," "marble," and even "vault" throw in some freshness and elegance. Although "vault" refers to the grave, it still has a sharper feel to it than "worm." We hear old souls crying and the rustling of things trying to get out. More creepiness.

The third stanza is a big relief: it’s all power and light, and, er, violence. "Transpires," sounds soaring and fresh. "Sweetness" and "ball" sound playful and light. But, what of "prey," "devour," "tear," "rough," and "strife?" These words sound darker, with darker meanings, too, perhaps. The speaker wants to do violence to time, but it sounds a little like he wants to do violence to the speaker, too. Or, maybe he’s just overexcited.

He sounds calmer in the final couplet.

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run. (46)

We think that this sounds bright, fast, slow, and elegant, like a promise that the speaker means to keep. What do you hear?

What’s Up With the Title?

What exactly is a "coy mistress?" As we say over and over in this guide, here’s an opportunity to use your imagination. To provide fuel for our imaginations, let’s look at the meanings of the two words.

If the word "mistress" is in the news or the tabloids nowadays, it probably means one thing: a woman (married or not) having an affair with a married man. And, by "affair," in terms of the news, we mean sex.

Guess what, Shmoopsters! According to the Oxford English Dictionary Online, it means the same thing in the 1650s, when Andrew Marvell probably writes the poem. It also means "a woman loved and courted by a man; a female sweetheart." There’s something for your inner paparazzi to chew on.

In Marvell’s time, "mistress" also means a woman who acts as a patron, or sponsor, for an artist or artists. This sense of the word allows us to imagine a new spin on things. If the speaker’s mistress is a patron, perhaps he’s trying to convince her to sponsor him for a new project, or, in short, to give him money. This interpretation complicates things. See, the poem speaks literally about sex – it references the mistress’s "long-preserved" virginity. So, if she is also the speaker’s patron, he either has or wants to have a sexual relationship with her, or he’s using sex as a metaphor for money. It might even be both. The tabloid journalist in you can get lots of mileage out of that one.

We haven’t given you all the possible meanings of "mistress" here. If you are ever stuck and can’t think of what to write your paper on, you can use this approach (looking up words in the dictionary) to build an argument that’s fun to make. But, before we move on to the word "coy," we should mention that "mistress" is the feminine form of the word "master." Almost all senses of the word "mistress" contain some element of "being in charge."

Now, for "coy." Most commonly, if a person is coy, he or she pretends to be shy, quiet, and reserved. (Early uses of the word imply actual shyness, quietness, and reserve.) The poem’s title then suggests then that the speaker’s mistress only pretends not to want to have sex with him. Either way, it explains why he says her "coyness" is a "crime." If she’s just toying with him, and he cares about her, then he has reason to be upset. On the other hand, if she really doesn’t want to, then he’s accusing her of a crime she hasn’t committed, and playing games with her head.

In addition to the common meaning of "coy," there is another meaning which can help us feel the beauty of the word. A good poet will search tirelessly until he or she finds just the right word. All the nuances of the word can be important. In Marvell’s time, the verb form of "coy" that is, "to coy" means "to stroke or caress." You can find this use in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

If we tie "mistress" and "coy" together, we can imagine a complicated relationship and complicated communications between our speaker and his mistress.

Andrew Marvell’s Calling Card

What is the poet’s signature style?

Experiments with Persona

Andrew Marvell conducts many memorable experiments in persona. Persona is the mask, personality, or character created by an author or actor, similar to the narrator or narrators in a novel. In "Bermudas," the poem’s persona is actually a group of people singing on an "English boat." In "A Dialogue Between the Soul and the Body," the personae are the soul and the body. Marvell doesn’t shy away from the female persona, either. In "The Nymph Complaining for the Death of Her Fawn" (could he have found a longer title, maybe?), the speaker is, as you probably guess, a woman. All of Marvell’s speakers are witty, use surprising images, and rhyme. His work also usually contains some deep philosophical questions, like how sex and time might be related in the poem that we study today. The more Marvell you read, the easier it becomes to see what distinguishes him from other poets.

To His Coy Mistress Theme of Time

The speaker of Andrew Marvell’s poem, "To His Coy Mistress," thinks that time is a super-villain out to get him. He wants to flip the script and control time. It’s not surprising that Marvell was concerned with time. It was a hot topic in the 1600s. Marvell lived during the time of both Galileo Galilei and Sir Isaac Newton, both of whom revolutionized the way we think about time today. Time remains a mystery to us, and Marvell’s poem gives us an opportunity to explore that mystery.

To His Coy Mistress Theme of Sex

If time is the super-villain of Andrew Marvell’s "To His Coy Mistress," then having sex is the super-power he needs to gain control over his enemy. But, sex isn’t so easy to come by. Possibly because only a very special someone would understand the speaker’s ideas about it. With wit and daring, the speaker discusses sex in frank, beautiful, and disturbing language. Sex is another one of those great mysteries that poets never tire of exploring. Marvell’s contribution perhaps paves the way for more open discussions of sex and sexuality.

To His Coy Mistress Theme of Mortality

Mortality, otherwise known as "death," gets a whole stanza in Andrew Marvell’s classic from the 1650s. The speaker presents his vision of the afterlife. While beautiful in terms of the that words the speaker uses to describe it, his vision is miles away from hopeful. He thinks that dying is the ultimate lack of control. It’s not as big of a downer as it sounds like. The speaker is a very witty guy, and his treatment of death makes for some of the most entertaining pick-up lines since John Donne’s "The Flea."

To His Coy Mistress Theme of Freedom and Confinement

Andrew Marvell’s "To His Coy Mistress" is constantly on the move between images of freedom and images of imprisonment. As we read why the speaker feels trapped, and how he thinks he can get out, we feel the need to examine the freedoms and confinements of our own lives. The poem can feel claustrophobic at some moments, but, at other moments, we feel all our confines crumble.

"TO HIS COY MISTRESS"

Had we but world enough, and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

[A woman (more or less young), is the object of this older gentleman's eye. She could be a coquette, one who uses arts to gain the admiration and the affections of men, merely for the gratification of vanity or from a desire of conquest; and, without any intention of responding to the feelings aroused in her plaything. At any rate, it was more the convention in Marvel's day for a pretty woman when she found herself interacting with an available man, to display shyness or reserve or unwillingness, at least for the first little while.]

We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love's day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Should'st rubies find: I by the tide

[Remember the times of the poet, in this case Marvel: circa 1650. England was beginning its era of great exploration and the discovery of the exotic east.]

Of Humber would complain, I would

Love you ten years before the flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

[These lines stumped me, until I received this e-mail from margaux: "... the flood referring to Noah a part belonging to the Genesis in the Bible. So he would love her since ever. And then he adds 'Till the conversion of the Jews' ... most Jews never have converted ... Those two religious references are just a way to tell her that he would love and praise her during a very very long time before getting into any kind of sexual intercourse with her, but ..." And another, "in your analysis of to his coy mistress: the flood part happened sometime after creation. The conversion of the jews is suppose to happen before Armageddon. That's the allusion that Andrew Marvell is using." Well, OK. So, there we have it.]

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires, and more slow ;

["Vegetable love": What do you suppose Marvel meant by this? One of my correspondents wrote, "A vegetable comes from the vegetative part of a plant, as opposed to a fruit, which comes from the reproductive part." At any rate, their love for one and the other may well grow slowly, for what ever reason; but it is a growing thing: deep, complex and vast. A lover is devoted to the loving business of praising his or her lover and is endlessly fascinated with the body and general presence of the other: this is part of being in love.]

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze ;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest ;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart ;

[Nice bit, "the last age should show your heart." I remember it being said, that once the heat of sexual passion subsides, as it always does, then -- one will be left with a blemished person and the best that can be hoped is that one is left with a beloved who tells the truth, who shuns sham, who has a heart.]

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

[Sexually speaking our older lover could take things slowly with her; if that is what she wants, then, that, is what she should have; he is committed to the conquest, a conquest that can only come about as a result of him fully satisfying her; and, no doubt it is his goal to satisfy her, though it may take thousands of years; and, he would take pleasure throughout the long wait, if, if, only if, there is some prospect of sexual fulfillment. Now, take a breath, for, it is at this point that there appears the most dramatic shift in tempo that I have ever felt in a passage of poetry.]

But at my back I always hear

Time's winged chariot hurrying near ;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song: then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity,

And you quaint honor turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust :

The grave's a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now, therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may,

And now, like amorous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour,

Than languish in his slow-chapt power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life :

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

[I just do not have the heart to break into any of those last lines of Marvel's: they belong together and to be left uninterrupted, undisturbed. By God, this man wants this woman, this central focus point of his sexual passion. He cannot wait, he begs her not to put off sexual union. He eloquently points out that the cares of the moment do not much matter as time is slowly absorbing them both, as it does all things. Marvel displays in full glory his epicurean philosophy.]

By Andrew Marvell (1621-1678).

Andrew Marvell's poem, ‘To His Coy Mistress’ (hereafter I shall refer to the poem as ‘Mistress’) is a beautifully provocative poem. ‘Mistress’ encompasses many literary techniques including tone, imagery, alliteration, metaphor, irony, enjambment and similes. It is written in iambic tetrameter as a three part proposition to his mistress, and Marvell employs alternative poetic styles (as mentioned previously) to enhance each of the three arguments in the poem. In essence, ‘Mistress’ examines the assertion that after death, morality is of no value. Marvell accentuates the triviality of his mistress being vain during her lifetime, emphasizing that she must do away with all trepidation when it comes to temptation. Like many metaphysical poets of the time Marvell investigates the popular Roman term coined by Quintus Horatius Flaccus (better known as Horace) “carpe diem quam minium credo la postero” (enjoy the present and trust as little as possible to the future ). By seizing the day, she can avoid the regrets of not having taken part in the more adventurous side of life. For people who adhere to the mundane and avoid the more adventurous experiences are doing so at their own detriment especially considering their already brief time here on earth. It is of interest that Marvell also blends into this poem a political/social commentary about King Charles II and it is this that rationalises why this was not published in his lifetime.

The three parts to ‘Mistress’ can be identified with the change of tone and pace in the poem. For example ‘Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime.” in these two opening lines, Marvell uses punctuation in order to slow down the pace of the poem without interfering with the constant iambic tetrameter throughout the poem. In doing this it reflects the message that time is of no importance. This is followed by the repeated use of open vowel sounds ‘would’ ‘which’ ‘way’ and ‘our’ in the next two lines to make the reader sound wistful as if they are sighing ‘We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day’. To further woo and enchant his audience, alliteration is also used to great effect, in line 1 ‘we’ and ‘world’, in line 2 ‘coyness’ and ‘crime’, in Line 3 ‘we would’ and ‘which way’ and finally in line 4 ‘long love’s’.

In the next 16 lines, it can be sensed the reader has upon his lips a slow smirk forming that coincides with the sly tone of the first argument. Marvell conjures up ethereal, tantalizingly beautiful images to flatter his mistress with an insincere exaggeration of her beauty and virtue. The imagery is insincere because it travels the full, albeit completely unrealistic, gamut of time and space. The first example of this is with ‘Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Should’st rubies find’ where he uses the metaphor relating the magically distant, recently discovered unspoilt Ganges’ river to the equally uncharted waters of his mistress’ sexuality. The image of his mistress searching for rubies set in stark contrast of his whereabouts ‘I by the tide Of Humber would complain’ whilst being a romantic image also reinforces her virginity.

With lines 7-8‘I would Love you ten years before the flood’ refers to Genesis 6-9 and the image of the incredibly pious Noah et al in his ark after forty days and forty nights of rain; (This is in itself an ironic image as God actually tells Noah and his three sons to engage in sexual intercourse. ) in conjunction with lines 9-10 ‘And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews’ sets up the period of time of which his mistress may take to consider his proposition. Obviously this is an impossibly infinite time frame which makes it a both an idealistic thought and romantic gesture. Lines 11-12 ‘My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow’ is a magnificent image not from the phallic symbol it creates but of the fact that vegetables, unlike fruits, are not created in the reproductive area of the plant. That is to say that fruits such as apples are what the flower becomes after pollination, whereas vegetables for example carrots are the roots, asparagus the stems and lettuce the leaves of the plant. Despite this it is still an ironic image as it is written in the conditional tense (if they had all the time in the world, which he knows they do not) and continuing with the carrot metaphor, the carrot (vegetable love) grows out of sight (subconsciously) whereas you will see in the next paragraph his lust grows quickly and consciously.

So far, this first section sounds romantic; yet the next few lines really push the point home. ‘An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze: Two hundred to adore each breast: But thirty thousand to the rest; An age at least for every part, And the last age should you show your heart’ here Marvell again shows scant disregard to the concept of time using increasing numbers to express his ever growing love for his mistress. However it is the detail that he spends 4 times the time on each of her breasts rather than her eyes to prove that it is not his love for her that is growing but in fact his cod piece! Yet the piece-de-resistance comes with the use of enjambment (lines 12-18) where the reader becomes breathless magnifying the readers’ completely enamoured state. The final couplet in part 1 ‘For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate’ is a lovely way to finish off the first argument. Marvell again uses punctuation to slow down the speech, and alliteration (‘love’ and ‘lower’) to emphasise his point. To smooth the transition into his second argument his use of the irony between line 1 ‘Had we but…and time’ and 19 ‘you deserve this state’, is a masterstroke, being that as she is mortal she cannot achieve that state. I would be remiss if I did not point out the snide remark he makes (line 20) about he being a better lover than a younger man, which to me is just gorgeous.

In the second part of his argument, the imagery and tone change dramatically. Gone are the fanciful ethereal images of far off exotic countries and infinite time, instead we have the honest and sobering images of mortality and contemporary life. Lines 21-22 the first of the second argument ‘But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near’ we can identify the shift in tone not only by the prepositional conjugate ‘But’ yet through the change in speed that the poem is read. The imagery of Apollo and his chariot is especially apt for numerous reasons. Apollo, was not only conceived not by his father Zeus’ wife Hera, but by Leto an inferior class of divinity or nymph (or in literary terms a young and beautiful woman) but also had a weakness for them (not to mention many conquests, but no marriages ) similar to that of the reader of the poem. It is also well known from Greek mythology that Apollo with the aid of four horses drew the sun across the sky. ‘And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity’ continues with the time theme; however, now it is far more sincere and melancholic. It is this abrupt change of imagery and metaphors which the writer uses to confront and confuse his audience in order to persuade her into submitting to him. With this craftily applied offering of honest and distinguishable images, it lends credence to the first part of the poem where the imagery was far more insincere and capricious.

‘Mistress’ continues with the dark imagery of impending death with ‘Thy beauty shall no more be found; Nor in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing Song’ pointing out that her beauty will only last for a short time, and that she will be a long time dead. He goes further to say that once she is dead and in her tomb that she will never again be able to hear how much he loves her. Marvell uses another phallic metaphor in lines 27-28 with ‘then Worms shall try That long preserv’d Virginity’. The poem continues with references to the Genesis with the following lines ‘And your quaint Honour turn to dust; And in ashes all my Lust.’ The final couplet of the second part summarises his argument ‘The Grave’s a fine and private place, But none I think do there embrace’ however, despite its morbid feel, there is a deliberate humorous inflection so as not to create a sombre mood, which would be counterproductive to his cause. The use of capitalised nouns in ‘Song’ ‘Worms,’ ‘Virginity,’ ‘Honour,’ ‘Lust’ and ‘Grave’s’ further stresses the iambic meter to press the importance of the imagery he is creating.

The conclusion to the argument is heralded by the first use of similes in the poem with ‘Now therefore, while the youthful hew Sits on thy skin like morning dew,’ Marvell uses this turn of phrase for two reasons. Firstly it is to act as a catalyst to shake off the doom and gloom of the previous argument and secondly it acts as a metaphor for the coming of spring after his mistress’ cold wintry, dare I say frigid behaviour. ‘And while thy willing Soul transpires At every pore with instant Fires’ uses the delicious metaphor of not literal flames but the ardent heat of desire he insists she feels for him; the use of many fires as opposed to the singular entrenches in us his carnal desire. In this line the issue of time is revisited with ‘instant’ rather than constant used to call attention to its effect on transience within the movement of the poem. The speed changes to an increased tempo so much so that it could be mistaken for a ballad or a joyous hymn. Once more the reader attempts to dazzle and confuse his audience in order to awaken her hot blooded desire with the following line, ‘Now let us sport us while we may’ the use of single syllable words and lack of punctuation leaves the reader out of breath in preparation for the second simile and its strong lusty imagery ‘And now, like am’rous birds of prey’. Marvell even finds time to throw in some internal rhyme with the line ‘Rather at once our Time devour, Than languish in his slow-chapt pow’r.’ What is more the repetition of this open vowel sound throughout the conclusion continues to add to the sensual connotations of the argument. For any readers still in doubt of the reference to Apollo earlier in the poem the next few lines prove the point effortlessly ‘Let us roll all our Strength, and all Our sweetness, up into one Ball’ not only is this a metaphor to the courtship of eagles but also to the ritual of young priests of the island of Leukas, Greece, to qualify for the service at the temple of Apollo .

The final four lines make one last final plea for the mistress to surrender herself to him ‘And tear our Pleasures with rough strife, Through the Iron gates of Life. Thus though we cannot make our Sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.’ The most interesting part of the final couplet is the use of the imagery of the Sun, for apart from its reference to Apollo and time it was also used in place of the word Son. The Son in this case Marvell attributes to Charles II, the son of the assassinated King Charles I, who fled to France for nine years after his defeat in the Battle of Worchester . This can be confirmed as Marvell’s first poems written whilst still at Cambridge celebrated the birth of Charles I; although Marvell later became sympathetic to the Parliamentary cause where he first became acquainted with Oliver Cromwell. This also explains the use of the line ‘Till the conversion of the Jews’ as Cromwell (the third person to sign Charles I death warrant) was responsible for trying to encourage the Jews to return to England in 1657 (after they had been banished by Edward I for 350 years) to help rebuild the economy after the civil wars decimated the country .

‘Mistress’ is a wonderfully lyrical poem written in the first person, despite the third person inference in the title. It uses Petrarchan conventions in the greatly exaggerated metaphors to woo his mistress. Marvell is a highly gifted poet who uses his verbal prowess to attempt to trick and dominate his mistress into sleeping with him. It almost appears as he is showing off, to prove that he can win over both her heart and her head (and other metaphysical poets as well) in a consummate display of his rhetorical mastery. All credit must go to a man that influences one of history’s greatest poets in T S Eliot. Eliot makes numerous allusions to this poem in his poem ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ and in ‘The Waste Land.’ For example in ‘Love Song’ the imagery of time is used repetitiously when he writes ‘There will be time, there will be time,’ ‘Time for you and time for me’ and ‘And indeed there will be time To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”’ The phrase used in the second argument in ‘Mistress’ ‘But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near’ is attributed by Eliot to his line(196) from ‘The Fire Sermon’ in ‘Waste Land’ with the nearly identical ‘But at my back from time to time I hear The sound of horns and motors.'

The poem, To His Coy Mistress, by Andrew Marvell brings out some actions that some of us have experienced or even thought about in this concise poem.  This poem is very appealing to the male senses and what some make are like.  Some women could be thought of when this is read. Andrew Marvell puts it in words that make it seem as if it was very acceptable. 

 The first twenty lines of the poem start to talk about how much this girl means to this perticular man.  The main character in the poem talks about how he will wait forever to be with her.  He mentions that “We would sit down and think which way To walk and pass our long love’s day.” (st. 3-4)  His views as of now are that he wants to take his time and he doesn’t have go anywhere.  This man certainly wants to plan things out so that it will be perfect.   Another line from the poem that makes him the gentleman that he is portraying to be is “An hundred years should go to praise Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze. “(st.13-14)  I think he is saying that we will give praise to her eyes that are so magnificent.  Her eyes are so beautiful, because of which he will praise them for hundred years before they can truly be together.  Later on it mentions that he will praise her breast each for two hundred years.  The mood is set that this man certainly wants to be with this woman.  He is telling her how he feels and wants her to understand that he really wants to be with her. 

  

    In the next twelve lines we begin to see a bit of difference in the attitude.  As of now the guy is thinking, well maybe we don’t have enough time to sit around and wait.  The chariot’s of time is pointed out  by saying that it is hurrying near.  Maybe we don’t have enough time anymore.  We should hurry up and get with it.  “Thy beauty shall no more be found, Nor, in thy marble vault shall sound.”(st. 25-26)  I imagine that he is telling her that if we wait to long then you shall be dead and then we would have never gotten the chance.  He is trying to tell her that they should hurry it up.   Later on in the poem it talks about how his lust turns into ashes.  The reason being is that if she passes away then he would have never gotten the chance of getting her into bed.  The man tries to show explain to her why it isn’t the best idea to die as a virgin.  He wants to help that out. 

  

    The last fourteen lines tries to show how passionate it will be.  There is no reason why they should wait if it is going to be that intense.  “Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey. “(st. 33-34)  The man who began telling this woman that he will wait forever, even until the end of time just be with her.  Then went to persuading her to hurry things up a bit because they don’t have all the time in the world.  Now he wants to show her how extreme it will be.  “Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball”(st. 41-42).  There he describes what it would be like.  He thinks that the best thing that could happen is that they can get into bed.  As of now that is all he seems to care about. 

     As a guy writing this, I believe that this is not the best approach to use for picking up women.  It gives you no chance with anyone else when they find out what you are really like.  This poem expressed many feelings that people feel.  I think that many people have kind of always wanted to try this way, but just had to much moral to even go through with it.

Posted in: Analysis, Andre, Coy, Great, Iambic, Imperial, line, Marvell's, Mistress, Motion, Setting, speaker, Stillness, Summary, symbol, Tetrameter, theme, Unknown