1. BY ANDREW MARVELL To His Coy Mistress

2. 1621-1678

3. Meter & Rhyme The poem is in iambic tetrameter, with 8 syllables (octosyllabic) (four feet) per line stress : x / x / x / x / syllable : had WE but WORLD e NOUGH and TIME da Dum da Dum da Dum da Dum this COY ness LA dy WERE no CRIME Iamb is a fixed combination of an unstressed and a stressed syllable ( da Dum) Rhyme : rhyming pairs (couplets)

4. Form & Setting The poem has 46 lines. It consists of 3 stanzas : 3 parts of an argumentation Had …. ( l.1) But …. ( l. 22) Now therefore ….. ( l. 33) Setting : The young man and the young lady presumably live somewhere in the North of England (native land of author), perhaps near the river Humber

5. Theme (Had …) He argues how he would love her, had they an infinite amount of time (but …) = volta = turning point. He remembers how short human life is. Once it is over, no opportunities to enjoy. No embracing in the grave (now therefore …) he argues that in loving each other with passion now they will make the most of the short time they have to live Carpe Diem = Seize the day

6. Metaphysical Poetry Mockery of idealized romantic poetry through crude or shocking imagery. (ll. 27- 28 worms / long preserved virginity)) Gross exaggeration (hyperbole) ( l. 15 two hundred to adore each breast) Expression of personal, private feelings Presentation of a logical argument. ( 1. decades of courtship possible if time stood still and we remained young. 2. However, time passes swiftly and relentlessly. 3. Therefore (l.33) conclusion – carpe diem Comparisons or contrasts of a metaphysical ( spiritual, transcendent, abstract) quality to a concrete ( physical, tangible, sensible) object. (vegetable compared to love (l. 11)

7. The Title The title suggests (1) that the author looked over the shoulder of a young man as he wrote the plea to a young lady and (2) then reported it exactly. However, the author added the title adding ‘his’ to refer to the young man. ‘coy’ tells that the lady is no easy catch. ‘mistress’ can mean lady, caretaker, courtesan, sweetheart, lover or female equivalent of master. i.c. it means sweetheart and Marvell wrote the poem.

8. Characters The title suggests Marvell writes from the point of view of a young man (his) The poem is in first-person point of view The poet enters the mind of the man and reports his thoughts as they manifest themselves The young man is impatient, desperately so, unwilling to tolerate temporizing on the part of the young lady His motivation appears to be carnal desire rather than true love; passion rules him. Consequently, one may describe him as immature and selfish