British Literature II
Poetry Worksheet
Andrew Marvell
To His Coy Mistress
Ganges - the lush and exotic river in India
Humber - a small muddy river that flows past Marvell’s hometowo His Coy Mistress
coy - shy, or pretending to be shy
complain - sing love songs
the conversion of the Jews - this was expected by Christians to happen just before The Last Judgement
vegetable - natural but unthinking, i.e., plant as opposed to animal or human
state - dignity
transpires - breathes forth
chapped - jawed (as in Hamlet, chap meaning jaw)
This poem is a brilliantly structured argument with each stanza developing its point. For what is the
speaker arguing?
What does the other person seem to want? Evidence?
What is the problem with this scenario? How does the poet bring home his point?
Given the arguments of the first two stanzas, what does the speaker say is the logical conclusion? What is
the reasoning for this?
What are the immediate and more philosophical points of this poem?