To His Coy Mistress – Andrew Marvell
Poet Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) was heavily involved in politics during his lifetime. He was a
staunch supporter of the Republican forces during the Civil War.
The word ‘mistress’ was used to indicate a loved – usage of the word has changed.
He is trying to seduce his mistress in the poem and uses many different methods to achieve
this aim.
The fact that the English Civil War was taking place may have influenced the topic of
Marvell’s poem – urgency due to the fact that he didn’t know how much time they would
have together – especially as such a strong supporter of Cromwell.
The main focus of the poem is Marvell telling his mistress that they have to make the most
of their time together – he obviously wants consummate their relationship, whilst she is
much more reticent about this development.
He acknowledges at the start of the poem that in another time or place there would be
more time to take the relationship slowly:
“Had we but world enough, and time, this coyness, lady, were no crime”
This seems to suggest that there is a reason for his haste in wanting to move the relationship
on. Perhaps he is fearful of his position as a parliamentarian.
The term ‘coy’ does not simply mean shy. It intimates that there is an element of
deliberateness to her show of being shy- almost that she isn’t really but is pretending to be
because that is what society would expect of her.
Her ‘coyness’, then, could be interpreted as flirtatious and deliberately provocative.
Perhaps because of the nature of the time in which he lived, Marvell is very conscious of the
limited likes that people had – he is urging his mistress to enjoy herself whilst she has time
and is still young.
He uses the spectre of death very persuasively to try to get his mistress to have a more
physical relationship with him.
The three stanzas of the poem deal with the different stages of his campaign to persuade
her.
The first stanza deals with what they would be able to do if they had enough time.
The second stanza focuses on the fact that they do not have enough time.
The final stanza deals with what he thinks they should do.
In this way, the poem is constructed like a logical argument and is easy for the reader to
follow.
Despite the serious subject matter the tone of the poem remains good natured and light
hearted.
The construction of the poem using rhyming couplets reinforces the lighter tone of the
poem.
Marvell uses some quite unusual contrasts of imagery in the poem. He imagines that his
mistress will walk by the side of the ‘ganges’ and imagines all the exotic and romantic
connotations that this conjures up. He, on the other hand, will be by the side of the Humber
a much more down to earth image. (Marvell lived near Hull, which is situated on the River
Humber).
A further example of his unusual imagery is demonstrated in:
“My Vegetable should grow”
Again, a very down to earth and un-exotic choice of imagery. Marvell seems to be suggesting
that the physical side of their relationship should be ordinary and natural.
He seems to find the romantic side of their relationship exotic and the physical side part of
every-day life.
Marvell uses hyperbole in his description of time and the urgency of their predicament.
Time is personified in such a way as to make it feel oppressive and threatening to his
mistress:
“Time’s winged chariot hurrying near”.
He implies that old age will swiftly be upon them and then it will be too late for them to
indulge their physical passion. This is, of course, an exaggeration but nonetheless it forms
part of a very persuasive argument from Marvell.
Marvell indulges in some quite sinister imagery in the second stanza of the poem, when he
informs his mistress of what will happen to her precious virginity once she is dead.
He imagines her in a cold and lonely ‘marble vault’ – somewhere away from his warm
embrace and reminds her that her virtue will be of no use to her when she is dead.
The vivid image of the worms eating away at her flesh reminds the woman that she should
enjoy herself whilst she has the chance.
In the final stanza of the poem, Marvell again tries to persuade her with slightly less alarming
imagery.
He draws on nature to provide images of their youthfulness and sexual prowess together:
“Like amorous birds of prey”.
This image clearly draws on ideas of physical strength and power, and the fact that their
passions are well matched. It is an image of life and vitality that provides a welcome contrast
to the old age and death described in the previous two stanzas.
In the poem overall, Marvell uses many of the accepted features of persuasive writing. He
gives his mistress a compelling argument as to why she should take their relationship
further.