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READ THIS
To his coy mistress is probably Andrew Marvell's best-known poem. It has often been
described as an example of carpe diem ("seize the day") verse although the poem is
more delicate than that.
The standard carpe diem verse speaks of the shortness of the seasons of life, the quick
onset of winter and therefore the need to seize the day and do everything now. In Marvell's
case, it is to have sexual intercourse with his lady-love immediately and before further time is
lost.
This poem is, however, more delicate than that. It speaks, rather, of the ideal of love -- where
time is not a factor. Only then does the poet turn to the fact that the ideal is not actually an
option but that time is pressing and therefore he and his lady-love should begin to make
passionate love as quickly as possible -- before the horrors of aging and death should set in.
It was the convention in Marvell's day for a young, sought-after woman to display shyness or
reserve for the first little while. When I was young, it was called "playing hard to get".
Marvell points out the dangers of taking this too far.
ABOUT THE POET
Andrew Marvell was born in East Yorkshire in 1621, the son of an Anglican priest. Upon leaving
school, he attended Trinity College (Cambridge University) from which he graduated with a
Bachelors degree at a rather young age.
He worked as tutor to Oliver Cromwell's ward during the era of England's republic after the
Puritans had overthrown the King. He then became a Member of Parliament during the
republican era, a post he managed to maintain even after the restoration of the monarchy in
1661.
Although himself a Puritan, Marvell is nevertheless best known for his metaphysical verse, and
is best associated with such poets as John Donne and George Herbert. For a while, he also
assisted John Milton who, becoming increasing blind, needed help in the recording of his
poetry.
Marvell died in 1678 at the age of 57.
Have you looked at the questions
in the right column?
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TEST YOURSELF!
Read the left column and then answer
the following questions:
"Had we but world enough, and time,
This coyness, lady, were no crime."
- Supply ONE word for "Had we but world enough, and time". (1)
[Need help?]
What about "Had we an ETERNITY"?
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- What does the poet mean by "coyness"? (2)
[Need help?]
The poet is referring to a certain shyness, reserve or an unwillingness on the part of the woman
to start participating in sexual intercourse.
It was the custom in Marvell's day for a woman to pretend an unwillingness to become sexually
involved with a man -- at least for a time. When I was young, we called it "playing hard to
get".
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- Why does the poet refer to this "coyness" as "no crime"? When would it be
"a crime"? (4)
[Need help?]
The poet appears to be referring to the crime of wasting so much beauty -- beautiful face,
wonderful breasts, delightful body -- by not using it for its essential purpose, i.e. passionate
sexual intercourse. If one had all eternity, he says, it would not be a crime but, because time
is short and the beauty of the body will quickly fade, then it is indeed a crime not to have sexual
intercourse right now.
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"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."
- Comment on the poet's reference to the Ganges and the Humber. (4)
[Need help?]
These are two rivers, one in India (the Ganges) and the other in England (the Humber). In
Marvell's day, these rivers would have been regarded as being at opposite ends of the world.
England in the mid-17th century was in the middle of a massive expansion into the world,
looking for new colonies and in search of new wealth ("Thou . . . shouldst rubies
find").
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- Comment on the poet's choice of words when he writes, "We would sit down and think
which way | To walk, and pass our long love's day." (6)
[Need help?]
The poet uses words which indicate a slow, leisurely love-making -- words like "sit
down" and "think" and "walk". What he would really like is not leisurely
love-making at all but a frantic and very heated sexual intercourse with his lady-love. He is
therefore juxtaposing the leisurely idyllic situation where time matters not, as opposed to the
violence of love-making where time is in fact short.
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"I would
Love you ten years before the Flood;
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews."
- Explain the expressions "ten years before the Flood" and "till the conversion of
the Jews". (4)
[Need help?]
The story of Noah's Flood is found towards the beginning of the Book of Genesis which is the
very first book of the Bible. Mention of the conversion of the Jews, on the other hand, occurs
in the Book of Revelations which is the very last book of the Christian New Testament -- and
the conversion would occur, the book says, at the Battle of the Armageddon at the end of time.
The poet is referring to an idyllic love which would last forever -- from the beginning of time
to the very end. With so much time on hand, therefore, the poet and his lady-love would have
all eternity in which to be coy or shy. But, he argues, they just don't have that sort of time
available to them, so they should be getting on with it.
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"My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow."
- What does the poet mean by "My vegetable love"? (4)
[Need help?]
Don't think in terms of garden vegetables but rather of vegetable as opposed to mineral. In
other words, the poet is comparing their love to a vegetable growth in a forest -- like a creeper
which will slowly spread itself over the treetops until it forms a canopy across the entire forest.
If the trees represent the empires, therefore, then his vegetable growth -- the creeper -- will
eventually be greater than these empires.
Remember too that, in Marvell's time, Great Britain was busy carving herself an empire in the
world.
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"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."
- Explain how the poet uses degrees of comparison in these words -- or referred to as Climax
-- which reveals the way in which he views his lady-love's body. (6)
[Need help?]
As the poet speaks of his lady-love's beautiful body, he defines her beauty in terms of the
amount of time that would be needed for admiring each part.
He gives one hundred years to admire the beauty of her eyes, and two hundred years to be
dedicated to gazing at each of her breasts. Notice that, in typical male fashion, he then gives
30,000 years for her sexual zone and to the contemplating of her virginity! At least, however,
he eventually rates her heart above all else and gives it an entire age.
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"For, lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate."
- Show how these words pay due honour to the lady's social environment and to the accepted
etiquette to which she is supposed to adhere. (4)
[Need help?]
Notice how the poet does not begin his discourse by informing his lady-love that her coyness
is wrong. On the contrary, he tells her that he understands it, that she deserves to be treated
with total respect. If all else were equal, he would allow her to play coy for as long as she
desires and he would not reject her or even attempt to force her to move any faster. In other
words, the poet says that he is quite willing to be the total gentleman.
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