To His Coy Mistress
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?- Created by: Natalia
- Created on: 22-03-13 09:41
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- To His Coy Mistress
- Quotes
- "Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime"
- If only we had unlimited time your shyness wouldn't be a problem.
- Suggests her shyness is an offence, wrong, a sin.
- "Indian Ganges"
- Large river in India, worshipped as a goddess.
- "Humber"
- A river in the North of England - Marvell's local river. Not romantic.
- "the Flood"
- Reference to the Old Testament exaggerates the time scale, emphasising his sarcasm.
- "Till the conversion of the Jews"
- Something that will never happen or is unlikely to happen.
- "My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow; an hundred years"
- Overstates his love to the point of being comic.
- "eyes ... forehead ... breast"
- Focuses on her physical attributes.
- "Two hundred ... thirty thousand ... An age"
- He exaggerates the time he would spend on flattery if there were no limits.
- "you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate"
- He tells her she's worth spending all this time on and he does want to be able to lover in this way.
- Reference to prostitution.
- "But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near"
- Metaphor from Greek mythology - Helios the Sun god rides his chariot across the sky. Shows the passing of time.
- Love is a myth.
- "Deserts of vast eternity"
- Contrasts vastness and nothingness of death with how brief but full of possibilities life is.
- "then worms shall try that long preserved virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust"
- He tells her she'll die and be buried a virgin to be eaten by worms. He's trying to shock her into giving him what he wants.
- "The grave's a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace"
- Sarcasm
- "Now"
- Repetition makes it sound like a call to action.
- "willing soul"
- Assumes that she is willing - he is ignoring what she wants, or is trying to convince her what she wants.
- "instant fires"
- Passionate language
- "like amorous birds of prey ... devour"
- Simile draws attention to the power and passion of these creatures to emphasise his desire for immediate satisfaction.
- Sexual male predator, violent.
- "let us role all our strength and all Our sweetness up into one ball"
- Wants them to be united.
- "rough strife"
- Violent language and imagery suggest he may be getting impatient with her.
- "Thus though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run"
- Defiantly standing up to time - time will have to run to keep up with them.
- "Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime"
- Quotes
- Suggests her shyness is an offence, wrong, a sin.
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