Week 7 -- "To His Coy Mistress"

Question

Week 7 -- "To His Coy Mistress"

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This poem is structured as a formal argument (If, but, therefore), which suggests that the persona has carefully planned-out his argument. What is he trying to convince his mistress of, what specific technique(s) does he use to persuade his mistress, and how effective (in your opinion) is he?

Answer 1

'To His Coy Mistress' is perhaps the most famous "carpe diem" - or, "seize the day" - poem in the English language. Relatedly, it is also a "carpe florum" poem, "florum" signifying a woman's sexual anatomy. In other words, the speaker of the poem presents an argument to his lover that she should stop being "coy" or shy in erotic desire and just have sex with him already! The speaker's argument holds that "coyness", which delays sexual pleasure, may result in the waste of their youth. As the question notes, the poem's structure makes particular turns to develop this argument.

The first verse paragraph starts with what might be called a "counterfactual" scenario. In other words, the speaker imagines a situation different or opposed to reality: "Had we but world enough and time / This coyness, lady, were no crime." He seems to affirm his lover's desire to be coy and take their relationship slowly by presenting an ideal situation of immortality, where he may spend exorbitant years praising each singular body part of his lover. The next verse paragraph, starting with :"But", constructs the reality that opposes this ideal vision. This paragraph emphasizes the metaphysical conditions that the speaker believes makes his lover's coyness a crime: time's passage and human mortality. This paragraph imagines a future where his lover remains "coy" (and thus a virgin) to her death, which means worms "shall try / That long-preserved virginity" - a grotesque image that implies that time and death will wrest bodily autonomy away from the speaker's lover. The last paragraph returns to the possibilities of present, where pleasure can be satisfied "Now [...] while thy willing soul transpires".

I can't tell you whether or not the argument and the devices used are effective; that's for you to decide! Are Marvell's grand images endearing, manipulative, or even ironic? In your evaluation, consider the specific figurative language Marvell uses. Does the image of the lover finding rubies along the Ganges in India while the speaker complains of her absence near the tide of Humber (a river in England) effectively make you sympathize with the speaker? Do the "amorous birds of prey" seem a desirable or positive image in relation to consummating erotic desire?