Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Question for October 31: "To His Coy Mistress"
Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress (pages 1703-04) can be divided into three parts, beginning on lines 1, 21, and 33. In your own words, summarize these three sections in a sentence each. Then discuss and explain the meaning of one of the poem's many figures of speech or literary devices (metaphysical conceit, metaphor, simile, personification, connotation, irony, etc.).
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Andre Marvell's poem, "To His Coy Mistress", is basically a warning to women about sexual actions during youth. We all know that it exists, but it takes a great poet to put it into words that we still understand today. Marvell is writing to a "coy mistress", which is basically an innocent woman. The poem can be divided into three sections for analysis. The first section, which is lines 1-20, examines the way the man would want to date the women. The first four lines say, "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." Marvell is describing the way men treat women, and how they would treat them. Another example is in lines 7-8, Marvell says, "I would love you ten years before the flood." Moving on to the second section, through lines 21-32, Marvell presents the problem and also a threat towards men not being faithful. He says, "And yonder all before us lie", in line 23, which is him saying that men have the ability to lie. In the very last section, lines 33-46 present the resolution to the problem. Marvell is basically saying that men can be unfaithful to women in youth, and that the pleasures of sexual activity can become a priority in relationships between the younger couples, and Marvell is doing his best to warn the women before hand and present a solution to the problem which is that men will be more respectful overall.
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