Andrew Marvell “To his Coy Mistress ” 31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678
Content Biography What is Poetry? Metaphysical poet Metaphysical poetry To his Coy mistress poem Surface meaning Deep Meaning Theme Argument Moral
Biography of Andrew Marvell Andrew Marvell (31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1659 and 1678. As a metaphysical poet, he is associated with John Donne and George Herbert . He was a colleague and friend of John Milton . His poems include " To His Coy Mistress ” was first published in 1681(by housekeeper,) after death of his several years " The Garden ", "An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell 's Return from Ireland", " The Mower's Song " and the country house poem " Upon Appleton House ".
What is Poetry? Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and rhythmic qualities of language such as phonaesthetics , sound symbolism, and meter—to evoke meanings in addition to, or in place of, the prosaic ostensible meaning Poetry is an art form in which human language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or instead of, its notional and semantic content. It consists largely of oral or literary works in which language is used in a manner that is felt by its user and audience to differ from ordinary prose
Metaphysical Poet The term “metaphysical," as applied to English and continental European poets of the seventeenth century, was used by Augustan poets John Dryden and Samuel Johnson to reprove those poets for their “unnaturalness.” As Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote, however, “The unnatural, that too is natural," and the metaphysical poets continue to be studied and revered for their intricacy and originality . The metaphysical poets were eclipsed in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries by romantic and Victorian poets, but twentieth-century readers and scholars, seeing in the metaphysicals an attempt to understand pressing political and scientific upheavals, engaged them with renewed interest .
Metaphysical Poetry The word 'meta' means 'after,' so the literal translation of 'metaphysical' is 'after the physical.' Basically, metaphysics deals with questions that can't be explained by science. It questions the nature of reality in a philosophical wa Metaphysical poetry is a little bit different. The poems classified in this group do share common characteristics: they are all highly intellectualized, use rather strange imagery, use frequent paradox and contain extremely complicated thought. However, metaphysical poetry is not regarded as a genre of poetry. In fact, the main poets of this group didn't read each other's work and didn't know that they were even part of a classification . metaphysical poem which incorporates the three tiers of ‘If’, ‘But’ and ‘So’ which is a very important trait of metaphysical poetry.
Title The title suggests (1) that the author looked over the shoulder of a young man as he wrote a plea to a young lady and (2) that the author then reported the plea exactly as the young man expressed it. However, the author added the title, using the third-person possessive pronoun "his" to refer to the young man. The word "coy" tells the reader that the lady is no easy catch; the word "mistress" can mean lady, manager, caretaker, courtesan, sweetheart, and lover. It can also serve as the female equivalent of master. In "To His Coy Mistress," the word appears to be a synonym for lady or sweetheart. In reality, of course, Marvell wrote the entire poem.
To his Coy Mistress 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 love's day. Thou by the Indian Ganges' side Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide 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. 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; 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. For, Lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate. But at my back I always hear Time's wingèd 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 your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust: The grave's a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace
To his Coy Mistress 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-chapped power. Let us roll all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball, 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
Surface Meaning (1- 20) The first twenty lines of the poem start to talk about how much this girl means to his particular man The main character in the poem talk about how he will wait forever to be with her. He mention that we would sit down and think which way to talk and pass our long loves day( s3-4) his views as of now are that he wants to take his time and he doesn’t have to go any here this man certainly wants to plan thinks out so that will be perfect. Another line from the poem that makes him the gentle man that his portraying to be is as hundred should go to praise thin eyes and on thy for head guess.( st 13-14) The speaker is saying that he will give praise to her eyes that are so magnificent her eyes are so beautiful of which he will praise them for hundred years before that can truly be together. Later he mention that he will praise her breast each for two hundred years. The mood is set that this main certainly wants to be with this women. He is telling he hoe he feels and wants her to understand that he really wants to be with her
Surface Meaning (21- 32) In the next twelve we begin to see a debit of difference in the attitude as if now the guy is thinking well may be we don’t have enough time around and wait. The chariots time is ointed out by saying that is hurrying near. May be we don’t have enough time any more we should hurry up and get with it. The beauty shall no more be found nor in the Marvell vault shall sound (st25-26).the speaker is telling her that if they waited too long then she shall be dead and they would have never gotten the chance. He is trying to tell her that they should hurry it up. Later in the poem he talk about how his lust turns into ashes the reason is that if she passes away then he would have never gotten the chance getting her into bed. The man tries to show explain to her why isn’t the best idea to die as virgin. He wants to help that out
Surface Meaning (33- 46) Last fourteen lines tries to show associated passionate it will be, there is no reason why they should be if it is going to be that instance. now let us spot us why we may and now like amorous birds of prey (st33-34)t the man who began telling this women that he will wait for ever even until he end of time just to be with her. then went to persuading her to hurry things up a bit because they don’t have all the time n the world Now he wants to show her how extreme it will be.let us role all our strength and all our sweetness up into one ball(st-41-42)there he descrive what it would be like. He thinks that the best thing that could be happened that they can get into bed
Deep meaning 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 ).
Theme 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 Morality : 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 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.
Moral To his coy mistress is one of many seduction poems The message is simple : the coyness of his mistress apples to him but life is too short to play games so its time to get serious
R esource http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Marvell http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_His_Coy_Mistress http :// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_His_Coy_Mistress