To His Coy Mistress - By Andrew Marvell

To His Coy Mistress

By Andrew Marvell

Had we but world enough and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love’s day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews.

My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires and more slow;

An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;

Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;

An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart.

For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate.

But at my back I always hear

Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.

Thy beauty shall no more be found;

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound

My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity,

And your quaint honour turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust;

The grave’s a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

Now therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,

And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,

Now let us sport us while we may,

And now, like amorous birds of prey,

Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped power.

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Through the iron gates of life:

Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run.

                     Andrew Marvell (31 March 1621 – 16 August 1678) was an English metaphysical poet, satirist and politician. During the Commonwealth period he was a colleague and friend of John Milton. His poems range from the love-song "To His Coy Mistress", to evocations of an aristocratic country house and garden in "Upon Appleton House" and "The Garden".

                 Marvell has written 'To His Coy Mistress" during 1649 - 1660 and it was first published in 1681, several years after his death. Marvell belonged to the metaphysical poets group. Their poems are famous for surprising use of language to explore the big questions about love, physical relation, the earthy, the universe, and the divine power.

    Analysis:

         

                 The poem displays characteristics of woman to whom the speaker is addressing his arguments. The word 'Coy' denotes to meanings, a coy person can be described as shy, timid or reluctant about something.

                 The speaker in this poem has expressed his tender feeling for his love to his coy mistress. He inspires us to enjoy love as long as possible. He projects his mistress as the shyest girl in the world. The poet wants her to be open up and be expressive about her desires because if she will not behave in such manner then she will ruin her beauty without being aware of it.

               The speaker does not reveal any physical or bio-graphical details about himself or the woman, whom he is addressing. In the first stanza, the speaker tells the mistress that if they had more time and space, her coyness would not be a crime.

 Had we but world enough and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

               The poet says that, if he would have time then he would definitely sit and think over the coyness of the lady. If they would have time then the poet would spend the years and ages to describe and praise each part of the body of his mistress because she is beautiful and she really deserves that state of admiration.

               Further he again argues that the time cannot affect his love for his mistress. He says that if coyness is not crime, it is a characteristic. He says that they do not have enough time because life is short but death is the ultimate truth. The poet warns her that the virginity that the mistress is preserving will be eaten by worms when she will die. If she will not have physical relations with the poet, all his desires will burn into ashes. By this the poet clearly suggests that the choice is to experience, relation with worms or with a man who claims to love the lady.

               Further the speaker has finished flattering his love with dreams and he has buried all his desires and dream for his mistress leaving her sacred of dying without experiencing love of something physical after hearing about human powerlessness in the force of time and the destruction it causes.

               He also says that,

The grave’s a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace.

     he considered that the grave is a private place but nobody can embrace there. Poet argues that before the time takes away the youth from us, it is batter to enjoy it at its best. Poet continuously presents imageries, first he imagined the mistress dead and worms are eating her virginity and on the other hand he admires her youth and expects that she should not waste her youth in coyness.

               Finally, poet says by being calmer that the physical relation is not that much important and he talks about a 'ball' which can be considered 'sun'. He says,

Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

              They can't make the sun from their all strength and love, he admits that physical love is compromise, they cannot use it to stop time, but they can use it to make time go faster.

             The speaker can be considering as the most rational lover but he is not the only rational person. Love has wide horizon to flow but it also has its own limitation, lovers either have to adjust with this limitations or should reject the idea of love. One cannot love for Physical relation, but one who loves, can have physical relation to increase the intimacy of them. The poet is rational but his rationality cannot be considered as his lust, because he is rationally in love.