Mike Ford
Andrew Marvell’s poem, “To His Coy Mistress” begins with a satire-like
commentary which connects to its ending in a clear message. The poem touches on the
animalistic nature of mankind and urges the reader to seize the day. This is much more
then a proposition to go to bed with a woman, but rather a statement of urgency in living
one’s life to its fullest potential while they still possess the physical capabilities to do
so.
The poem is divided into two parts; the first is a sarcastic proclamation of
Marvell’s love for a woman. He wastes no time in expressing his love and his beliefs, as
the first two lines can be seen as a summary of what is to come. “Had we but world
enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime,” (1-2). The form of the poem is
even foreshadowed in this opening, as the rest of the poem follows this line for line
rhyming pattern. In addition, the first half of the poem follows the theme of this first line,
while the second line follows the theme of the latter half of the poem.
The first half uses extensive metaphors in order to show Marvell’s patience that
exists from this dedication to his love. Specifically, Marvell mentions he would love his
mistress “10 years before the flood,” as well as until the “conversion of the Jews,” (9-10).
These comparisons are references to the bible, and the beginning of the world and the end
of the world. Before the flood being the beginning, and the conversion of the Jews
making reference to the end of the world and the supposed recognition of Christianity as
the one true faith. This example portrays love as being outside the barriers of time and
the ever-present fact that man as an individual ages and will eventually die, thus his love
is stronger than nature.
The physical metaphors are of particular amusement, as Marvell writes that he
would spend over 30,000 years adoring parts of his lover’s body (14-18). Like the
previous examples, this tells the reader that he feels his love is not bound by earthly law,
and that he will take his time in praising every part of his mistress’ body. This is
followed by the most important analogy in the poem, and one that changes the tone of the
work.
Time is compared to a “winged chariot” that is always coming near, a chariot that
will take Marvell to his “marble vault,” his tomb (22, 26). Unlike some of the previous
writers, Marvell does not put any emphasis on the after life; he compares the inevitable
death of every man to an instrument of war, a chariot. A chariot is something to be
feared, something that is faster than a man and therefore inescapable. He uses another
interesting analogy when he writes the chariot will take you to a “desert of vast eternity,”
(24). His rejection of heaven through these analogies is important in understanding the
overall theme of the poem. Near the end of the work, he compares being born to exiting
the “iron gates,” aside from the obvious physical analogy; he is saying that life is merely
a brief escape from the prison that exists before one is born, and the desert that waits after
one dies (44).
The various analogies of the poem demonstrate that Marvell’s message is to seize
the day, for one day you will die. These seem like strong words, but reading the first half
his poem as a satire on wasting time coupled with his rejection of the afterlife, strong
language is needed to show the sense of urgency he is portraying. Starting with the third
line, Marvell goes into some very cliché metaphors that sarcastically portray the idea of
ever-lasting life. He uses analogies that are somewhat awkward on purpose, in order to
portray the ridiculous nature of denying one’s animal instincts.
When describing his mistress’ body, he goes into great detail to describe how long
he would adore each body part, and purposely uses the number 30,000 to indicate his
sarcasm (16). Such a number is so over the top in order to mock the poems that use such
analogies to show love. In addition, the example of a love growing slower than an
empire expresses the idea of denying one’s animal urges, something Marvell, having
shown his sense of urgency in love, would only write sarcastically (12). It can take
thousands of years for an empire to develop, quite a long time for courtship.
Marvell’s chariot changes the focus of the poem and reveals the true argument
that he is making. As previously stated, death is portrayed as constantly chasing people
down, bringing them to the inevitable end, which is nothing but a wasteland. It is here
that he delivers the blunt message of death and the mistakes on not living life while you
can, as in death, “But none, I think, do there embrace,” (22). Marvell’s argument is
simply put, that love does not exist in death; hence it must be embraced in life.
Beginning with line 33, the animal instincts of man are embraced by Marvell, as
he suggests two people devour their time in love like “amorous birds of prey,” (38). In
other words, love while you can, express that love physically while you can, because
soon you will enter back into the prison from which you came.
“To His Coy Mistress” is an attack on morals and the church, as it rejects the idea
of dealing with hardship for reward in the afterlife. Marvell appears to have no religious
beliefs, but rather sees man as natural creatures ruled by animal instincts that should not
be denied. On the surface the poem is an attempt to get his mistress to go to bed with
him, that is the immediate point of the poem, but through that idea be uses the parallel of
living, one should live while they can because death is always waiting. The graphic
nature of the poem in describing worms eating a dead body in the ground is purposely
gross to show that death is not sacred, not part of life, but rather the end of one’s chance
to live. The first half of the poem is drawn out and contains embellished metaphors to
waste the reader’s time as a way to argue the message of not wasting time.
Marvell’s poem argues urgently for people to seize the day and act on their animal
urges. His blunt rejection of an after-life coupled with the sarcasm of wasting one’s time
describing their love rather than acting upon it proves that Marvell’s poem delivers the
argument to live all you can today, for soon you will die.