Cultural Studies
Cultural studies
Paper no :205
∆ Personal Information:
Name : Maya Batiya
Roll no : 18
Enrollment no :5108230003
Course : M.A.sem-3
Paper no :205
Paper code :22410
Paper name : Cultural studies
Topic :Analysis of To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell
Submitted : Smt.S.B.Gardi, Department of English MKBU.
Email: mayajbatiya2003@gmail.com
Q. Analysis of To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell
Ans :
∆∆ Introduction :
Andrew Marvell wrote this poem in middle of 1650s which was later published after 1680 posthumously. This poem focuses on two perspectives of persuasion of beloved for making love and supreme power of time against morality of human being.
∆ About Andrew Marvell:
Andrew Marvell (born March 31, 1621, Winestead, Yorkshire, England—died August 18, 1678, London) was an English poet whose political reputation overshadowed that of his poetry until the 20th century. He is now considered to be one of the best Metaphysical poets.
Marvell was educated at Hull grammar school and Trinity College, Cambridge, taking a B.A. in 1639. His father’s death in 1641 may have ended Marvell’s promising academic career. He was abroad for at least five years (1642–46), presumably as a tutor. In 1651–52 he was tutor to Mary, daughter of Lord Fairfax, the Parliamentary general, at Nun Appleton, Yorkshire, during which time he probably wrote his notable poems “Upon Appleton House” and “The Garden” as well as his series of Mower poems.
Although earlier opposed to Oliver Cromwell’s Commonwealth government, he wrote “An Horatian Ode upon Cromwell’s Return from Ireland” (1650), and from 1653 to 1657 he was a tutor to Cromwell’s ward William Dutton. In 1657 he became assistant to John Milton as Latin secretary in the foreign office. “The First Anniversary” (1655) and “On the Death of O.C.” (1659) showed his continued and growing admiration for Cromwell. In 1659 he was elected member of Parliament for Hull, an office he held until his death, serving skillfully and effectively.
∆ Context
Andrew Marvell - 1621 to 1678 - is one of the most intriguing figures in English literature. He was a poet, a politician and – some say – a spy.
Central Idea-
This poem is centralized on morality of human being and supremacy of time. Considering this fact a lover is persuading his beloved to establish physical relationship with him and stop her shyness as time is limited and moving fast. It is the stage of youth in which both power and willingness allow them to have physical love making. After youth old age will turn them fruitless and powerless. They won't be able to satisfy their desire of physical relationship after youth is passed.
Figure of Speech:
1.Alliteration-
'Long love', has alliteration as there is repetition of consonant/L/.
2.Consonance -
'thirty thousand' has consonance as after consonant/th/there is change of vowel in both words.
3. Hyperbole-
Hyperbole is rampant in the poem. The following lines show it- "I would love you ten years before the flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews."
4.Metaphor-
'Deserts of vast eternity' is used for Old age.
5. Simile-
Both of the lovers are compared to birds of prey who are often involved into love making.
E.g. "Now let us sport us while we may, And now, like amorous birds of prey,"
6.Understatement-
There is a beautiful use of understatement in line 'The grave's a fine and private place'. It is a device which is opposite to Hyperbole and it undermines or lessens effect of something.
7. Enjambment-
There is rampant use of enjambment in the poem. It is a device which is used to continue the sentence in the next line.
"We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love's day".
8.Blazon -
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
These lines show usage of the device 'blazon'. Blazon is used to describe or praise various parts of a woman or lady.
∆ Advocacy of youth and pleasure-
Poet through the poem has advocated using the phase of youth. Youth is state of power and capability. It is that state in which a person can achieve various things through his power and it's the only state in which physical and sensual pleasures can be enjoyed. Through the incessant approach of the lover towards his beloved for making love this attitude of the poet is quite visible.
∆ A Carpe Diem poem-
This poem has element of carpe diem like poetry of Horace. Carpe Diem means 'seize the day'. In this poem lover urges his beloved to have physical relationship with him without making any delay. They have to use this appropriate time and stage of life for love making. Later on time will overcome them as 'Time's winged chariot hurrying near' and they won't be able to enjoy beauty and love during old age.
∆ Metaphysical Poem-
The poem is a brilliant example of metaphysical poem. It has various elements which are common in a metaphysical poem such as - Hyperbole, Far-fetched conceits, Uses of wits, unification of sensibility, Carpe diem etc.
∆ Structure and Rhyme Scheme-
This poem is a dramatic monologue written in a single long stanza having iambic tetrameter. Whole poem has rhyming couplets i.e AABBCC etc...
∆∆ Form and structure
The poem is a dramatic monologue written in iambic tetrameter using rhyming couplets Tetrameter means that each line is divided into four feet.An iamb consists of one stressed syllable (u) - followed by an unstressed syllable (/).So a line of iambic tetrameter consists of four iambs - four sets of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable. For example:-
u / u / u / u /
Had we but world enough and Time the poem has three sections.
In the first stanza the ideal courtship is presented. The speaker begins by constructing an elaborate conceit, with extravagant references to the many things he would do to honour and “woo” the lady properly if the two lovers had “but time".
The second stanza makes it clear that they have not got time, and that death is not only inevitable but imminent.
The final stanza proposes that they fight against the progression of time and seek pleasure while they are able.
∆∆∆Language
First Stanza
In the first stanza there are humorously exaggerated references to traditional romantic ideas. He speaks of spending "An hundred years" to "praise / Thine eyes" and "Two hundred to adore each breast".
This is all undermined by the poem's opening words, "Had we but world enough, and time".
He is presenting a courtship which may sound wonderful, but is one he states from the outset is impossible. Persuasively he tells his lover "you deserve this state", even though he knows it is all an exaggerated fantasy.
Images of death and decay are used in the second stanza to show the lover the pointlessness of resisting. Once dead "then worms shall try / That long preserved virginity".
This disgusting image is intended to encourage his lover to give her virginity to the speaker rather than foolishly saving herself for the "worms" when buried.
He also makes a pun of her "quaint honour". This could be seen as a reference to her naïve preservation of her virginity even though death - alluded to by "turn to dust" - is inevitable.
Second stanza
The second stanza also echoes words from the Christian burial tradition - "dust" and "ashes" are both referred to and act as a reminder to the mistress that life only has one outcome, so waiting is pointless.
The rhyming of "dust" and "lust" on lines 29 and 30 effectively summarises the choice the mistress must make.
The final line of the second stanza uses parenthetical commas to convince us - and the lover - that the speaker has logically reached a conclusion. He says, “The grave's a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace.”
This acts as a challenge - who would be unreasonable enough to disagree with him?
Third stanza
The final stanza - in which the speaker grows impatient to convince his mistress - is full of references to speed, urgency and passion. The simile"while the youthful hue / Sits on thy skin like morning dew" restates the speaker's desire, with a focus on his mistress' body.
The "morning dew" is also an effective simile in that dew very quickly disappears as the day advances, just like her youthful appearance.
He also suggests that "like amorous birds of prey" they should "at once our time devour".
This imagery is quite animalistic, and hints at his barely contained desires.
They should not - he thinks - be waiting for death. He speaks of "instant fires" - meaning their feelings of desire - urging his mistress that they should "sport us while we may".
He suggests they should "roll all our strength and all / Our sweetness up into one ball". The alliteration of the 's' sounds on the positive words "strength" and "sweetness" are part of a shift in the poem away from the earlier negative language to more active, more enjoyable words and ideas.
∆ Themes:
• Religion
The poem challenges religious ideas. He speaks of making the most of life because "yonder all before us lie / Deserts of vast eternity". He is suggesting that there is nothing after life - so waiting and resisting urges in life is pointless.
• Time
In poetry, especially love poetry, time is personified as being the enemy of lovers. Time will bring death, the awareness of which is always with the speaker, "at my back I always hear / Time's winged chariot hurrying near". A chariot is an old type of carriage pulled by horses, commonly associated with war.
The final rhyming couplet is hopeful of the lovers' chances of making the most of life, "though we cannot make our sun / Stand still, yet we will make him run". The word "will" is definite - the couplet acknowledges that both time and death are inevitable, whilst at the same time suggesting that action and determination are the best approaches.
• Seize the day
The poem is a famous example of the classical idea of ‘carpe diem’ or ‘seize the day’. The speaker is urging his mistress to make the best of life by living it to the full and not simply waiting for death. It is pointless to deny pleasures.
This idea clashes with one of the popular movements of the 17th century, Puritanism. Its followers emphasised the importance of denying personal pleasures - especially those considered to be in any way sinful.
Conclusion :
The poem contains beautiful romantic touches. This is evident when the poet compares the beauty of the coy girl to the morning dew suggesting its evanescence or when he asserts that the flame of passion in her soul transpires through the pores of her skin making it aglow. The poet’s awareness of the brevity of life and of the approaching death is Shakespearean in its intensity of feeling. The hyperboles appear a little ludicrous, but that is momentarily, for as we move on we get the message of the poet. The poet is explicitly sensual in his scansion of the physique of the coy girl, and the sensuality becomes lurid when he says that he would, if he had plenty of time, spend two hundred years enjoying the beauty of each breast. But the sensuality is an adornment of the poem for nowhere does the poet speak of Platonic love. His whole thrust is upon the enjoyment of physical love without allowing worms to feast on the girl’s long-preserved virginity or without allowing his own fiery passion to die down. The whole poem is based on the theory of seizing the day, and poet is never coy in expressing what he wants to mean or have.
References :
Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Andrew Marvell," Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Andrew-Marvell-English-poet.
Subham Sahu, "Title of the Document," Scribd, accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.scribd.com/document/638937602/Untitled.
"Understanding 17th Century Poetry," BBC Bitesize, accessed November 19, 2024. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zxn7k2p/revision/4.
Words : 2003
Images : 3
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