To His Coy Mistress, Andrew Marvell
Thesis Statement Essay on Andrew Marvell’s
„To his Coy Mistress“
As we are all mortal, the only things in life that really matter, are our sexual desires. The mortality of human beings has always been an outstanding topic in metaphysical poetry (Negri: 56). Life fades away after a certain period of time and constrains everyone’s life to a definite period. Nevertheless, this topic does also bring up other questions, concerning this subject. Andrew Marvell’s “To his Coy Mistress” lays emphasis on the fading of beauty and on sexuality. The poem shows the desire of a young man, trying to convince a woman to have sex with him, because her beauty is mortal and therefore they should undress immediately and love each other in a purely physical way. This poem was written in the Commonwealth Period, in which the topic of “carpe diem”, of seizing the day, was central (Chernaik: 101). Marvell picks up this topic, as the speaker of the poem wants his mistress to stop thinking about what is going to happen in future and just enjoy the time they have together at that particular moment. Although the speaker might convince the mistress, his argumentation and style of writing prove his doubtfulness and therefore his words are not persuasive, at all.
At first, vocabulary and language that are used throughout the poem, and also the style of writing, show the unconvincing way the speaker tries to persuade the mistress of his wants. The poem starts off with the speaker’s wish to have more time (“Had we but world enough an time”, l. 1), which creates a romantic atmosphere as the reader expects the speaker to continue with the wish to use this time to spend loving hours with his mistress, so that they could share their feelings forever. But continuing at the second line, this wish for eternity suddenly turns into the speaker’s demand that the mistress should stop her coyness, as there is no time for being coquettish. This turn in sense shows the speaker’s real attention, as he is
„To his Coy Mistress“
As we are all mortal, the only things in life that really matter, are our sexual desires. The mortality of human beings has always been an outstanding topic in metaphysical poetry (Negri: 56). Life fades away after a certain period of time and constrains everyone’s life to a definite period. Nevertheless, this topic does also bring up other questions, concerning this subject. Andrew Marvell’s “To his Coy Mistress” lays emphasis on the fading of beauty and on sexuality. The poem shows the desire of a young man, trying to convince a woman to have sex with him, because her beauty is mortal and therefore they should undress immediately and love each other in a purely physical way. This poem was written in the Commonwealth Period, in which the topic of “carpe diem”, of seizing the day, was central (Chernaik: 101). Marvell picks up this topic, as the speaker of the poem wants his mistress to stop thinking about what is going to happen in future and just enjoy the time they have together at that particular moment. Although the speaker might convince the mistress, his argumentation and style of writing prove his doubtfulness and therefore his words are not persuasive, at all.
At first, vocabulary and language that are used throughout the poem, and also the style of writing, show the unconvincing way the speaker tries to persuade the mistress of his wants. The poem starts off with the speaker’s wish to have more time (“Had we but world enough an time”, l. 1), which creates a romantic atmosphere as the reader expects the speaker to continue with the wish to use this time to spend loving hours with his mistress, so that they could share their feelings forever. But continuing at the second line, this wish for eternity suddenly turns into the speaker’s demand that the mistress should stop her coyness, as there is no time for being coquettish. This turn in sense shows the speaker’s real attention, as he is
Bibliography: Marvell. Cambridge University Press, 1983. Jan, K.M. and Shabnam Firdaus. Guide to English Literature. Atlantic Publishers & Dist, 2003 Keilbach, Andreas. Love in “To his Coy Mistress”. Grin Verlag, 2008. Negri, Paul. Metaphysical Poetry: An Anthology. Courier Dover Publications, 2002. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1993. Schulze, Daniela Mistress”: Metaphysical poetry: Virginity, sexuality and seduction in conceits. Grin Verlag, 2008. Wronski, Ulrike His Coy Mistress '. Grin Verlag, 2007.