English 7

A poem analysis
An analysis of To his coy
mistress

To his coy mistress

After studying several different interpretations of Andrew Marvells poem To his coy
mistress, one can easily conclude that a poem can be analyzed and interpreted in several
different ways. The first thing to notice is the use of the word coy in the title, which the

poet refers to throughout and in the early parts of the poem. This does not necessarily
have to be negative, although with limited time it is not preferred. However, there are
several questions still unanswered with these interpretations. In this analysis I will attempt
to answer some of them with the help of the carpe diem theme. Marvell composed this
lyric in the established custom of a Latin love legend, in which the speaker glorifies his
significant other through the theme of carpe diem, or "seize the day." The sonnet likewise
mirrors the convention of the suggestive display, in which a writer develops extensive
pictures of his sweetheart's excellence via praising each body part alone. Its verse structure
comprises of rhymed couplets in versifying tetrameter, continuing as AA, BB, CC, et cetera.
The first stanza of the poem has a rather slow pace. One thing to notice is the absence of a
known speaker since we do not know specifically who the nameless speaker is. This creates
a mythical mood. The technique used could be viewed as quite feminine, with endings used
to manipulate the phonological length, with in order contributes to a sort of softness in the
words. This can be interpreted as the narrators wish of a romantic tone in the first stanza,
with the purpose of grasping the partners attention from the start. One can also notice the
recurring theme of time and love from the start of the poem, in which the pace of the first
stanza plays a crucial part as a contrast to the second stanza, as the poet is using
metaphors to create an image of limited time. This is where the carpe diem theme shines
through, as the first stanza strongly points out the absence of unlimited time and how it
affects the way they should make love: Had we but world enough and time my vegetable
love would grow vaster than Empire and more slow.
Although the use of a romantic theme and a slow pace is the predominant factor in the first
stanza, the poet keeps the element of time a vast entity, iterating the theme into each
sentence. The rhythm of the whole stanza can be observed upon as a ticking clock, ticking
away sentence by sentence, which the second stanza explains further on.

The second stanza changes the tone and language through a transition from the slow and
romantic to the more dramatic theme. This functions as a clarification of the poets
allusions to time in the first stanza, and throughout the whole poem, which could be
referred to as the carpe diem theme. The second stanza starts with a straight contour, but
at my back I always hear, times winged chariot hurrying near. With this sentence a sense
of determination and urgency instantly appears, both from the words such as chariot as
well as the management of end-stopping and masculine finishes. This works very well as a
contrast to the first stanza, considering it is heavily distinct from the romantic and soft
phrasing.
The poet furthermore starts to create a sort of symbolism and imagery which serves as a
sensational dissimilarity to the representation of the colorful "Indian Ganges'" in the
opening stanza. With the symbolism of death, "the grave's a fine and private place, but
none, I think, do there embrace", he presents a thought of isolation and hopelessness, an
incredible inverse to his past signs of his aching for an unfathomable length of love. He
utilizes this to highlight the urgency, presenting an unnerving picture of the result of
disregarding his request and providing a break from this outcome. A recurring factor in the
second stanza is the heavy presence of dramatic contrast, specifically between positive and
negative imagery. For example "thy beauty shall no more be found" always underscoring
the value she is to pay for holding up instead of acting.
The route in which love is spoken to in this stanza is strikingly distinctive to the basic
representations of affection in the metaphysical period, utilizing negative symbolism to
influence the partner, "worms shall try that long preserved virginity", as well as trying to
reassure swift love as opposed to the everlasting holding and cultured love that was
regularly lectured by various artists at the time.
In the third and final stanza the protagonist concludes his argument, and furthermore
presents his resolution to the issue regarding time. He tries to achieve his final seduction in

the last part of the poem, still mirroring the ticking of a clock to uphold the feeling of a very
small timespan. Moreover, he pledged her to sport with him while we may, which
additionally supports the argument of a very limited time and the use of seizing the day
(carpe diem). This stanza further on provides a feeling of desperation which in turn means
several attempts of winning the lady over. Imagery such as fire and dew is used to
explain the lover, reaching out to meanings like elegance and passionate fire. The stanza
ends with lines not only applying to the poem, but also in life as a whole we cannot make
our sun stand still, yet we will make him run, which wraps up the rest of the poem really
well. The protagonist implies that they should force the sun to chase them instead of
waiting for it to catch them, which in this case means to make love immediately instead of
waiting for the sun to catch them first.
The goal of this analysis was to examine the poem from the perspective of carpe diem, or
seize the day. When the result can be studied, it is very easy to observe how many different
perspectives one can investigate from. However, this answered numerous questions
regarding the limited timespan the protagonist implied throughout the poem, repeatedly
referring to the carpe diem theme with the implications of urge. The usage of time and the
rhythm of a clock in the poem furthermore strengthens the indirect references to the carpe
diem theme. However it is important to remember that a poem can be interpreted in
several different ways, and only the person analyzing it can choose what is right or wrong.

Works cited
Schmoops analysis of the poem from the site - http://www.shmoop.com/to-his-coymistress/analysis.html
The poem itself - http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173954
An analysis which helped me with phrasing - http://www.gradesaver.com/andrew-marvellpoems/study-guide/summary-to-his-coy-mistress
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