Master To His Coy Mistress 5 Essential Themes for Students

Master To His Coy Mistress 5 Essential Themes for Students to gain a deeper understanding of the poem.

Introduction:

“To His Coy Mistress” is a poem by Andrew Marvell, an English poet. He likely wrote it in the 1650s, during a period called the English Interregnum when England had no king. However, the poem wasn’t published until the 1680s, after Marvell had passed away.

The poem is a “carpe diem” poem, which means it encourages people to make the most of life while they can. In this case, the speaker is trying to convince a shy or hesitant young woman to enjoy life and its pleasures before it’s too late. He wants her to live in the moment and not waste time.

As the speaker tries to persuade the woman, he starts talking a lot about death. His thoughts about death become so intense and vivid that they almost overpower his original purpose of trying to seduce her. Instead of just focusing on love and pleasure, the poem becomes filled with a sense of fear and dread about the reality of death.

Summary:

In “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker is trying to convince a woman to stop being so shy and enjoy life with him. He starts by saying that if they had all the time in the world, her being cautious and reserved wouldn’t be a problem. They could take their time, relax, and enjoy each other’s company. He imagines her walking by the river Ganges in India, while he would be by the river Humber in England, writing poems. He says he would love her from the beginning of time, even before events like the Biblical Flood, and she could say no to him until the end of the world.

He then describes how he would take thousands of years to admire every part of her, from her eyes to her heart, because she deserves that kind of devotion. But, he reminds her that time is always moving forward. In the future, they will both be dead, and all her beauty will be gone. The praise he writes for her will be useless in the grave, and everything she tried to protect, like her virginity, will be taken by worms. The speaker points out that nothing happens in the grave, not even love.

Because of this, he urges her to enjoy the present. While she’s still young and beautiful, and her body is full of passion, they should make the most of their time together. He suggests they should seize the moment and be together passionately, instead of letting time slip away. He admits they can’t stop time, but at least they can make the most of it before it catches up to them.

Theme:

Love:

“To His Coy Mistress” is basically a love poem. Like most other metaphysical poems, this also deals with love, beauty, Sexuality etc. The speaker wants to make love as soon as possible. In exaggerated traditional references of lovemaking, the speaker expresses how much he loves his coy mistress.

But the lady is here not responding to the lover’s call. So, the speaker-lover is desperately trying to convince her to make love with him without wasting time, as they are at their height of youth now. The love expressed here is more physical and sensual than spiritual.

Brevity of Life

The speaker of the poem is haunted by mortality, the shortness of this earthly life. He highlights the destroying power of time in the second section of the poem with references of “time’s winged chariot”, “grave”, “desert of vast eternity”, “worms” etc. If they had enough time, they could make love in a luxurious way. But he knows it is impossible. So, he wants to do it before death. Death can’t be delayed or defeated. The motto of the speaker is to enjoy as much pleasure as possible before death comes.

Life and Death:

The whole poem is about the idea of life and death. The speaker says that death will definitely happen and that it’s the end of everything. Because of this, he thinks the two young lovers should enjoy life and do whatever they want while they are still young. This poem is an example of a “carpe diem” style, which is a Latin phrase meaning “seize the day.” Carpe diem is a way of saying that people should make the most of their time now and not worry too much about the future.

Youth and Sexuality:

The speaker talks about death to try to convince his mistress to have sex with him. In Marvell’s time, people strongly disapproved of premarital sex, especially for women. If a woman lost her virginity before marriage, society saw her as ruined and impure. Men, on the other hand, were not judged the same way and could still be considered good husbands. Women, however, were thought to lose all their value if they were no longer virgins.

The speaker argues that sexuality is meant to be enjoyed while people are young, and that virginity doesn’t matter once someone is dead. He uses some gross imagery to make his point, saying that if she doesn’t have sex with him, worms will end up taking her virginity after she dies:

“…then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity (27–28).”

Instead of letting worms take her virginity and honor, the speaker tells his mistress that giving it to him will actually help them take control of time and cheat death.

Symbol:

Time’s winged chariot:

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. However, the winged chariot represents time’s inevitability and its upper hand over mortals.

Deserts of Eternity:

Another symbol used in the poem is the phrase “Deserts of vast eternity” in the second section. The speaker has no reason to believe that the future will be any less fruitful than the present. However, the world will no longer contain the possibility of love between himself and his mistress. As far as he is concerned, this lack of love renders the next world barren and lifeless, an eternal, loveless desert.

Birds of prey:

The speaker imagines themselves as amorous preying birds devouring time. Rather than being time’s prey, we can prey upon time if we can make the most of it. By using this metaphysical conceit, the speaker tries to convince his lady to make love at the earliest.

Sun:

In the final couplet of the poem “To His Coy Mistress”, the sun is used as a symbol for time as a whole. The speaker says that he cannot make the sun wait but can surely make him run. He means to say that though he cannot preserve their youthful days for time unlimited, they can surely throw a challenge at the run of time by enjoying their present time to the fullest.

Heart:

In the first part of the poem, the speaker spends a lot of time imagining that he would take forever to slowly and beautifully describe each part of his mistress’s body. He focuses on her physical features and beauty, like her forehead, eyes, and breasts. But in line 18, the speaker mentions her “heart.” The heart symbolizes her innermost self, her true character.

The fact that he brings up the heart at this point in the poem tells us something about the perfect world he’s imagining. In this ideal world, the mistress can wait until the end of time to reveal her true self. Even though the speaker loves her deeply, she doesn’t have to return that love until she’s completely ready.

Dust:

At the end of the second part of the poem, the speaker points out that when his mistress dies, her virginity and the honor that comes with it will “turn to dust.” This means that after death, something that was once full of life and meaning will become nothing more than a lifeless substance.

Dust has long been a symbol of death and decay in Western thought. For example, in the Bible, when God casts Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden, He tells them, “For dust you are and to dust you shall return.” This means that being human (or mortal) means being made of dust, and life is just a temporary escape from returning to dust.

Dew:

In line 34, the speaker compares the mistress’s youthful skin to “morning dew.” Dew is often used as a symbol for youth and fragility. Dew is the tiny droplets of water that form on plants and grass in the early morning when the temperature changes. It usually disappears by mid-morning as the sun gets hotter.

Because dew is delicate, beautiful, and quickly vanishes, it’s a popular symbol for youth in poetry. Just like how dew shows up in the morning and fades away as the day goes on, human life is often compared to a day, with the morning representing youth and the evening representing old age. Dew is almost a perfect symbol for youth itself: it’s beautiful and fragile, and it fades away quickly as life moves forward. Here, the speaker uses this symbol in a traditional and familiar way to describe the fleeting nature of youth.

Setting:

The setting of “To His Coy Mistress” is generally the whole earth. In the first stanza, the speaker imagines traveling all over the world with his mistress, from East Yorkshire in England (where the poet Marvell was born) to the Ganges River in India. However, the poem doesn’t talk much about the cultural or political events of the time it was written.

The poem was likely written in the 1650s, a time of great turmoil in England. The English Civil War had recently ended, King Charles I had been executed, and the country was controlled by the Parliamentarians, who supported Parliament over the King. Marvell himself was involved in these political events and was a member of Parliament during the 1650s.

Despite this, “To His Coy Mistress” doesn’t mention any of the political unrest happening at that time. Even when the speaker talks about “empires” and “power,” he isn’t referring to specific political events, parties, or nations. The poem seems to step away from the complicated politics of its time. Instead, it focuses on love and sexuality as something separate from politics, almost as if they are a refuge from the troubles of the world.

By distancing itself from its historical context, the poem makes its message more universal. It feels like the speaker and his mistress could be any lovers, living in any time or place.

Literary Devices

End-stopped Lines

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 –

An Age at least to every part,

And the last Age should show your heart.

For Lady you deserve this state;

Nor would I love at lower rate.

Enjambment:

When a sentence continues to the next line of a verse without pause, it is called an enjambment. Here are examples from the poem –

My vegetable Love should grow

Vaster than Empires, and more slow.

A hundred years should go to praise

Thine Eyes, and on thy Forehead Gaze.

Caesura:

A caesura in poetry is a pause (with a comma, semicolon etc.) in the middle of a line.

Had we but World enough, and Time,

This coyness, Lady, were no crime.

We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long Loves Day.

Assonance:

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words. Here are some instances from the poem –

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

(the ‘i’ sound in ‘side’, ‘find’, ‘I’ ‘by’ and ‘tide’)

My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity, (‘o’ sound)

Consonance:

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in neighbouring words.

That long-preserved virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

(‘t’, ‘n’ and ‘r’ sounds)

And while thy willing soul transpires (‘l’ sound)

Alliteration:

Alliteration is a sub-category of consonance. It is the repetition of consonant sounds in the beginning (or, stressed syllables) of nearby words.

We would sit down, and think which way

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

Simile:

A simile is a direct comparison between two things using ‘as’ or ‘like’.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

In the above lines (33-34), the speaker compares his lady’s youthful beauty and freshness to the morning dew using a simile.

And now, like amorous birds of prey

In line 38 of “To His Coy Mistress”, the speaker-lover compares themselves to passionate preying birds who can eat time before time eats them.

Metaphor:

A metaphor is an indirect or implied comparison between two things where there is a point of similarity.

My vegetable love should grow

In line 11, the speaker implicitly compares his love to vegetables for its slower development.

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

In line 22, time is indirectly compared to a winged chariot. Time waits for none and it flies swiftly and hence this comparison.

Deserts of vast eternity.

Again, in line 24, eternity is compared to a desert. We have no idea of the other world after death. That is why it seems barren and like a desert to us.

Personification:

Personification is a literary device in which human qualities are attributed to non-human things.

In Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress”, time has been personified on more than one occasion.

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

In the above line, time is seen driving his winged chariot as if he is a human being.

Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

In the above lines, the speaker uses the pronoun ‘his’ for time and speaks of its slow engulfing power.

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Again, in the final lines of the poem, the lover uses ‘him’ for sun and talks of making him run. All there are examples of personification.

Imagery:

Imageries are used to make the readers perceive things with their five senses.

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

Visual imageries are used in the above lines. We can visualize the ladylove sitting on the riverbank and the flying chariot hurrying behind us.

Allusion:

An allusion is an indirect reference to something which is literally, historically or culturally important.

In Marvell’s “To His Coy Mistress”, there are allusions of the river Humber in England and the Ganges in India.

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain…

Again, there are Biblical allusions of the Great Flood and the Conversion of the Jews.

Love you ten years before the flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

In line 22, the speaker also alludes to the mythological winged chariot driven by the sun god Helios.

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

Apostrophe:

An apostrophe in literature is generally an exclamatory address to an absent person or to a personified thing.

Had we but world enough and time,

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.

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Hyperbole:

Hyperbole is an exaggerated statement or claim that is not meant to be taken literally.

In the poem “To His Coy Mistress”, the speaker reaches the heights of exaggeration when he says that he would take one hundred years to praise and gaze at his lady’s eyes and forehead, two hundred years to adore each of her breasts and thirty thousand years for the rest of her body.

A 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;

Again, this is an obvious overstatement when the speaker says that he would make the sun run.

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

Syllogism:

A syllogism is a way of making a logical argument by using two statements (called premises) to arrive at a conclusion. If both premises are true, then the conclusion should also be true. It’s like a simple formula for reasoning.

For example, “An apple is a fruit. All fruit is good. Therefore apples are good”

In Andrew Marvell’s poem To His Coy Mistress, the speaker uses logic and assumptions to create a syllogistic atmosphere to persuade his mistress to give in to his desires.

The poem is a metaphysical carpe diem poem that attempts to seduce the mistress by urging her to enjoy life before death.

The speaker uses two facts to create a logical atmosphere: the mistress’ beauty will fade and they both will die.

For example, one could translate the following lines as a syllogism:

Being coy is fine so long as there’s lots of time.

Master To His Coy Mistress 5 Essential Themes for Students

Form:

“To His Coy Mistress” is a poem written in a special rhythmic pattern called rhyming iambic tetrameter couplets. This means that each line has a rhythm that sounds like a heartbeat (da-DUM, da-DUM) and there are four of these beats per line.

The poem’s lines rhyme in pairs, meaning the last words of two lines sound alike. However, the poem doesn’t follow a strict pattern when it comes to stanza length—some stanzas are longer than others, and Marvell, the poet, created this specific form just for this poem. The poem doesn’t follow the traditional rules that readers in the 17th and 18th centuries would have expected.

During that time, poets often used a form called “heroic verse,” which is made of rhymed iambic pentameter couplets (lines with five beats). This kind of verse was usually used for serious and grand topics, like battles or epic journeys. Marvell’s poem almost fits into this heroic form but falls just short of it, which seems intentional. It’s like Marvell is having fun with his readers, making the poem almost serious but not quite. Because the poem uses one less beat per line, it feels quicker, lighter, and less serious compared to the more stately heroic verse.

Even though the poem has some variations in its rhythm, it maintains a light and fast pace throughout, helped by the strong rhyming at the end of each line. These little rhythm changes are just there to keep things interesting and don’t change how the poem feels overall. What’s more intriguing are the ways the poet organizes his ideas.

The speaker of the poem often presents his thoughts in two-line segments, where each new thought starts with a new couplet (two lines). This can be seen right from the first two lines. Sometimes, the speaker stretches his thoughts beyond two lines, but he still sticks to the couplet structure.

There are moments when the poet breaks this pattern, especially when the speaker wants to emphasize something important or when he gets a bit carried away with his emotions. For example, in line 37, the speaker says, “Now let us sport us while we may.” This line stands out because it’s the main point of the poem, and the speaker makes it stick out on purpose.

The poem is also organized into three main sections, each forming a stanza. The poem works like a logical argument, almost like a syllogism. In the first stanza, the speaker imagines a “what if” scenario. In the second stanza, he explains why this “what if” scenario isn’t possible.

Finally, in the third stanza, he talks about what they should do because the “what if” isn’t real. The poem is structured like a logical argument that tries to persuade the reader, with each stanza building on the previous one to make the overall point clear.

Meter:

“To His Coy Mistress” is written in a rhythmic pattern called iambic tetrameter, which means each line has four beats, following a da-DUM rhythm (like a heartbeat). This pattern is unusual and gives the poem a smooth flow. In fact, many parts of the poem are very regular in this rhythm, as seen in the first four lines:

Had we | but world | enough | and time,

This coy- | ness, lad-| y, were | no crime.

We would | sit down, | and think | which way

To walk, | and pass | our long | love’s day.

These lines are so regular in their rhythm that they might even seem a bit repetitive, which is why the poet eventually needs to mix things up a bit. In a poem as long as this one, some variation in the rhythm is natural and even necessary. Marvell, the poet, often changes the rhythm slightly, but these changes are subtle and don’t really stand out much to the reader.

For example, Marvell sometimes starts a line with a trochee (DUM-da) instead of an iamb (da-DUM), like in line 5:

Thou by the | Indian | Ganges’ | side

Here, the rhythm is a bit different from what we expect, but it’s so smooth that we hardly notice the change. These little variations keep the poem lively but don’t change how it feels overall.

However, there’s a more significant way that the poem’s rhythm plays with our expectations. The poem’s rhymed iambic tetrameter couplets (lines that rhyme in pairs with four beats each) are close to a popular and prestigious form of the time called “heroic couplets.” Heroic couplets have ten syllables per line, but Marvell’s poem only has eight syllables per line, so it falls just short of being a “proper” heroic poem.

This gives the poem a feeling that it’s not quite as serious or grand as a traditional heroic poem would be. Marvell seems to be admitting that his poem isn’t meant to be as serious as those on heroic subjects. But this works in the poem’s favor because it makes the poem feel lighter, more playful, and less serious.

Master To His Coy Mistress 5 Essential Themes for Students and unlock the key elements of the poem.

Rhyming Scheme:

“To His Coy Mistress” is written in rhyming couplets, which means every two lines rhyme with each other. After Marvell finishes one pair of rhyming lines, he moves on to the next pair with a different rhyme. You can see this pattern in the first 10 lines of the poem, where the rhymes go like this: aabbccddee.

Each pair of lines (or couplet) feels separate, not just because of the rhyme, but also because of the ideas they express. For example, the first two lines of the poem are one complete thought:

Had we but world enough and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

Here, the speaker starts his thought at the beginning of the first line and finishes it at the end of the second line. Then, in the third and fourth lines, he starts a new thought. So, the rhyme helps to organize the poem both in its structure and in the way the ideas are presented.

The poem also has some rhymes that might seem a little off to modern readers, like “try” and “virginity” in lines 27-28. These may sound like slant or half rhymes today, but when Marvell wrote the poem, English was pronounced differently, and these would have been strong, full rhymes.

A detailed analysis will help master To His Coy Mistress 5 Essential Themes for Students more effectively.

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