In Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress, the main theme is sex, or rather the lack of sex. The speaker and his special lady friend are never actually identified. Though, each stanza has a sub theme that gives us a little insight into the characters.
"Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no Crime" (lines 1-2) The first stanza is about time. If the two characters had more time and space, then her 'coyness' would not be a crime. Coy by definition means artfully or affectedly shy or reserved; slyly hesitant; coquetish. By modern standards, this woman could be considered a tease. She pretends to not want to have sex with the man. The speaker also states in lines 13-18, that had they more time he would try to 'woo' her by complimenting every individual part of her body. Once he is done, she should show him her heart. Heart here is perhaps a metaphor for both the mistress's love and having sex.
"For, Lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate" (Lines 19-20) The speaker tells the woman that she is worth being ogled at for thousands of years and deserves nothing less than first-class. Meaning that she does not deserve to be taken advantage of.
In the second stanza the speaker becomes a little more hasty because they don't have enough time. Death is upon them. "And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity." (lines 23-24) He says that death is forever. "Thy beauty shall no more be found, Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song: then worms shall try That long perserved virginity,"(lines 25-28) Once she is dead, her beauty will fade with her decaying body in her 'marble vault' or coffin. His words will 'echo' in her ear (though she is dead and therefore cannot hear, so this possibly means that her soul will forever remember his words). The speaker then turns into a regular old 'Creepers McGee'. He tells his mistress that while in her grave, worms will have sex with her... (Side note... what the hell? I thought this guys was supposed to be trying to get laid, not frightening the woman into having sex with him.) In lines 30-32 the speaker says that if she doesn't have sex with him, his sexual desires will turn into ashes, which sort of implys that if he can't have sex with her, he won't have sex at all.
The third stanza lightens up the speaker's tone a little. He states that because they are young, willing and able, they should just listen to their natural desires and just have sex. "Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires," (Lines 33-36) In line 38 he tells his mistress to be 'like amorous birds of prey' meaning mating birds of prey. Perhaps he is describing that he wants to have rough sex with her because birds of prey are dangerous, aggressive birds. "Rather at once our time devour Than languish in his slow-chapt power." (Lines 39-40) The speaker says that he is a prisoner to time. They only way to break free is to have sex with the woman.
The speaker is essentially sexually frustrated and just wants the woman to have sex with him because he thinks it will solve all his problems. The mistress however has different ideas. Her ideas may be related to the different denotations of the word 'mistress'. The most common definition is a woman having an affair with a married man. Although in the 1650s, during Marvell's time, the use of mistress could refer to a woman being loved or courted by a man. Mistress is also the feminine form of the word master. This definition would give the woman in the poem an element of power. This power could be as simple as being a tease by taunting the speaker with her beautiful body, but never giving him what he really wants: sex.
The ending discussion of the "Mistress" is very good and you should start the poem with it and look at the poem from that view. Note, the poem is a CARPE DIEM poem and seduction poem. The three stanza move the poem along in idea. The first stanza deals with the traditional concept of courting. The man was suppose to praise the woman and the woman was suppose to say "no no no" until the right time came along. The speaker is saying that if the two lived forever he should spend eternity praising her. But, in stanza two, he admits that life is short - really short and soon the woman will age and lose her beauty and they'll both be dead and nothing will have come of their love for each other (though she may not love him). Stanza three is really - the seize the day part. We cannot control time but we can take advantage of the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe form: a monologue written is syllabic couplets.