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Love in To His Coy Mistress


            Should one give up their long-preserved virginity just because eventually we will all die? Based on the remarks of the speaker in "To His Coy Mistress," this mentality is correct. Written by Andrew Marvell, this "carpe diem" poem displays the idea that one should make the most of the present time despite how it might affect the future. "To His Coy Mistress" presents a man striving to convince his lover to act on her passion before it is too late. By reading the title of this poem, one could immediately infer that this man's partner is quite shy about making love. While reading the poem, I could not help but question if he is truly in love with her, why is he pressuring her to have sex with him? The poem begins with the man conveying how he would compliment every part of her if they had an endless amount of time but quickly transitions into a cruel reality in the second stanza. In "To His Coy Mistress" Andrew Marvell uses figurative language such as imagery, metaphors, simile, personification, and diction to express the proposition that her modesty wouldn't be an issue if they had eternity to love each other. .
             Beginning in the first stanza, the speaker starts to present all of the things he would do to praise the woman entirely if time was not a factor. "Had we but world enough, and time, this coyness, lady, were no crime" (1-2). I believe that the lines, "Thou by the Indian Ganges' side Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide," were included to convey the woman's sacred virginity (5-6). He goes on to display an image of eternity by referring to the amount of time between Noah's flood and the end of the world. "I would love you ten years before the flood, and you should if you please refuse till the conversion of the Jews" (8-10). The speaker then proceeds to use the metaphor of "vegetable love" in line 11 to demonstrate a slow, natural love between the two lovers.


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