Andrew Marvell is known as a Metaphysical poet. A metaphysical poem incorporates strange images, paradoxes, or conceits within a logical or philosophical argument.
One poem which is clearly metaphysical is “To His Coy Mistress.” In it, the speaker attempts to convince his love that they should have sex now while they are still young. He attempts a logical argument to convince her to make the most of their time before they get old and die. He states that if they had all the time in the world, he could spend hundreds of years adoring each part of her. However, he argues, “Time’s winged chariot” is always threatening—they will grow old and die and will spend eternity in a “marble vault.” Therefore, he implores, they must seize the day before “worms shall try/ That long-preserved virginity.” He concludes that although a grave is a private place, it’s not the ideal place for love, so they should now be “amorous birds of prey” and “devour” time.
The speaker attempts to reason with his love that to stay a virgin is a waste of life. However, the images presented are bizarre for a so-called love poem. Thus, Marvell utilizes metaphysical elements to get across his message to make the most of time—carpe diem.
Sunday, April 24, 2016
How does Andrew Marvel bring out the elements of metaphysical poetry in "To His Coy Mistress"?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
What is the theme of the chapter Lead?
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
The statement "Development policy needs to be about poor people, not just poor countries," carries a lot of baggage. Let's dis...
-
"Mistaken Identity" is an amusing anecdote recounted by the famous author Mark Twain about an experience he once had while traveli...
-
Primo Levi's complex probing of the Holocaust, including his survival of Auschwitz and pre- and post-war life, is organized around indiv...
-
De Gouges's Declaration of the Rights of Woman was enormously influential. We can see its influences on early English feminist Mary Woll...
-
As if Hamlet were not obsessed enough with death, his uncovering of the skull of Yorick, the court jester from his youth, really sets him of...
-
In both "Volar" and "A Wall of Fire Rising," the characters are impacted by their environments, and this is indeed refle...
No comments:
Post a Comment