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Priceless Time in To His Coy Mistress

He uses the idea of eternity to show how dedicated he would be in winning her love. The speaker also takes time in the poem to flatter his mistress.
             What more does a girl want, then to be told how much she is adored and admired? He goes on to tell her how all the time he will dedicate to her will be spent. He starts this explanation with "My vegetable love should grow / Vaster than empires and more slow" (11,12). This metaphor of his love is expresses how slowly he will spend his time on her, if there was such thing as eternity. He also compares his love for her to empires saying it will be enormous. The speaker gets a little more specific in the following four lines:.
             An 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; (13-16).
             He uses this flattery he uses to show her his adoration and convince her of the degree that he would admire her if only they had " world enough, and time" (1). But they don't and he becomes more time conscious.
             Marvell's speaker turns from adoring this mistress to rushing her for an answer and scaring her into giving him one. He finishes his adoration lines telling her " you deserve this state, / Nor would I love at a lower rate" (19, 20). Then he turns into this time rushing man seeking a decision telling her:.
             But at my back I always hear .
             Time's winged chariot hurrying near;.
             And yonder before us lie.
             Deserts of vast eternity. (21-24).
             He uses the "winged chariot" to symbolize his death coming fast and soon they will both be lying (dead) forever. He then uses another factor of what time may bring to scare his mistress and allow her to realize that her time on earth will eventually run out. He says, "Thy beauty shall no more be found" (25). Time will bring old age and her beauty will diminish. The speaker chose to use the imagery of death and her beauty to make his proposal even harder to resist.


Essays Related to Priceless Time in To His Coy Mistress

1. To His Coy Mistress

To His Coy Mistress Before paraphrasing the poem itself, I must first start with the title. The speaker is telling of his unending love to his "coy mistress." But at the time this poem was written, in the late 17th century, a mistress was not the lover of a married man. ... Coy is defined as shy and modest. The speaker is telling his coy mistress that if there were enough time in the world, her shyness would be no crime because time would not be a factor. ...

  • Word Count: 585
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

2. to his coy mistress

"To His Coy Mistress by andrew marvell The central theme of this seventeenth century poem is carpe diem, or "seize the day. It is about a man who is proclaiming his love to his mistress, a shy lady who he tells to make the most of the time that they spend together. ... The first part is the speaker telling his mistress that if time were forever, then being shy would not be a crime. ... In part two of the poem, the speaker tells his mistress that the time they have on earth is finite. ... The last part of "To His Coy Mistress,"" lines 33-46, is a resolution, a plan for the lover...

  • Word Count: 472
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

3. To his coy mistress and the autumn

The rhyme that Marvell employs in "To His Coy Mistress" creates an impression of the mistress as adorable. ... And in "To His Coy Mistress" it creates an impression of time is terminating men. "To His Coy Mistress" and "To Autumn" covey opposing ideas and create contrasting idea of time is running out and time is timeless. ... This image of never ending autumn therefore contrasts with the deadly terminating time in "To His Coy Mistress." ... In "To His Coy Mistress" by Marvell and "To Autumn" by Keats different impression of time passing are communicated. ...

  • Word Count: 715
  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

4. To His Coy Mistress

"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell The first lines of Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress", states, "Had we but world enough, and time, /This coyness, lady were no crime" (1-2). ... These are all major things, so the speaker is trying to present the vastness of the idea to his mistress; to change the coyness ideal of his mistress before it overwhelms her and she ends up alone. He also tries to portray to the mistress that there is no time, and there will be major consequences, and logic must prevail. He states that, "Now therefore, while the youthful hue/ Sits on thy skin like mo...

  • Word Count: 302
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

5. To His Coy Mistress

Figurative Language in To His Coy Mistress The poem by Andrew Marvell "To His Coy Mistress" is that of intense passion for another. ... "The individual and his desires come up against the outer world, life and time" (Lewis 265). Had we but World enough, and Time, This coyness Lady were no crime. ... "The lines 11 and 12, "My vegetable love should grow vaster than Empires, and more slow", recall the pastoral eroticism of Virgil's carves his mistress" name on trees and makes a joke about it, thereby misusing nature" (Summers 292). ... The lady of "To His Coy Mistress" is not sp...

  • Word Count: 410
  • Approx Pages: 2
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Coy Mistress

"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell -Poetry Analysis This poem has been written in the form of a request to the poet's coy (or shy) mistress, the grant his desire for them to make love. ... Today, the speaker's speech may seem sexist in its attitude toward women and irresponsible in its attitude toward the coy mistress (the speaker doesn't explain how he would seize the day if the woman became pregnant, for example). ... The poem's speaker is attempting to persuade "His Coy Mistress" to have sex with him. ... It starts with a hidden quatrain holding the argument'...

  • Word Count: 911
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. To his Coy Mistress

This message can be clearly seen in the poems "To his Coy Mistress" by Marvell and Donne's "Flea." ... Lines 39-41 deal with time:Rather at once our time devour,Than languish in his slow-chapped power.Let us roll all our strength and allThese lines actually produce the effect of slowing time down. ... To his Coy Mistress" is similar in many ways to Donne's "Flea." ... The poem is shorter than "To his Coy Mistress," and does not contain the as many creative uses of diction and rhyme scheme. ... With such ingenious rhyme, use of metaphors, and vivid imagery, "To his Coy Mistress" exemp...

  • Word Count: 921
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

8. To His Coy Mistress

This message can be clearly seen in the poems "To his Coy Mistress" by Marvell and Donne's "Flea." ... Lines 39-41 deal with time:Rather at once our time devour,Than languish in his slow-chapped power.Let us roll all our strength and allThese lines actually produce the effect of slowing time down. ... To his Coy Mistress" is similar in many ways to Donne's "Flea." ... The poem is shorter than "To his Coy Mistress," and does not contain the as many creative uses of diction and rhyme scheme. ... With such ingenious rhyme, use of metaphors, and vivid imagery, "To his Coy Mistress" exemp...

  • Word Count: 923
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Literary Analysis - To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell

To His Coy Mistress- by Andrew Marvell (1621-1678). ... To begin, the title of the poem suggests that it is written by a man to his coy (shy) mistress. ... In the last stanza the speaker urges his coy mistress to promptly comply so that they can make use of the little time they have together. ... In the poem, "To his Coy Mistress," Pathetic fallacy is used as a way of personifying time. ... Sarcasm is another figure of speech used in "To His Coy Mistress" to pass sharp, mild insults to the coy mistress. ...

  • Word Count: 1363
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Grade Level: High School

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