To His Coy Mistress

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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.

"To His Coy Mistress" is a metaphysical poem written by

the English author and politician Andrew Marvell (1621–1678) either
during or just before the English Interregnum (1649–60). It was
published posthumously in 1681.[2]
This poem is considered one of Marvell's finest and is possibly the
best recognised carpe diem poem in English. Although the date of its
composition is not known, it may have been written in the early
1650s. At that time, Marvell was serving as a tutor to the daughter of
the retired commander of the New Model Army, Sir Thomas Fairfax.
[3]

he speaker of the poem starts by addressing a woman who has been

slow to respond to his romantic advances. In the first stanza he
describes how he would pay court to her if he were to be
unencumbered by the constraints of a normal lifespan. He could spend
centuries admiring each part of her body and her resistance to his
advances (i.e., coyness) would not discourage him. In the second
stanza, he laments how short human life is. Once life is over, the
speaker contends, the opportunity to enjoy one another is gone, as no
one embraces in death. In the last stanza, the speaker urges the woman
to requite his efforts, and argues that in loving one another with
passion they will both make the most of the brief time they have to
live.
Structure[edit]
The poem is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymes in couplets. The
first verse paragraph ("Had we...") is ten couplets long, the second
("But...") six, and the third ("Now therefore...") seven. The logical
form of the poem runs: if... but... therefore....
Critical reception and themes[edit]
Until recently, "To His Coy Mistress" had been received by many as a
poem that follows the traditional conventions of carpe diem love
poetry. Some modern critics, however, argue Marvell's use of
complex and ambiguous metaphors challenges the perceived notions
of the poem. It as well raises suspicion of irony and deludes the reader
with its inappropriate and jarring imagery.[4]
Some critics believe the poem is an ironic statement on sexual
seduction. They reject the idea that Marvell's poem carries a serious
and solemn mood. Rather, the poem's opening lines—"Had we but
world enough, and time/ This coyness, Lady, were no crime"—seems
to suggest quite a whimsical tone of regret. In the second part of the
poem, there is a sudden transition into imagery that involves graves,
marble vaults and worms. The narrator's use of such metaphors to
depict a realistic and harsh death that awaits the lovers seems to be a
way of shocking the lady into submission. As well, critics note the
sense of urgency of the narrator in the poem's third section, especially
the alarming comparison of the lovers to "amorous birds of prey".[3]
In modern English poetry, it refers to a line consisting of
four iambic feet. The word "tetrameter" simply means that there are
four feet in the line; iambic tetrameter is a line comprising four
iambs, defined by accent. The scheme is thus:

To His Coy Mistress’ is one of the most famous poems of the

seventeenth century, and probably the most famous
poem Andrew Marvell (1621-78) ever wrote. It’s a classic
seduction poem, which sees Marvell endeavouring to
persuade his would-be lover, or ‘mistress’, to go to bed with
him. As well as being a seduction lyric, ‘To His Coy Mistress’
is also a carpe diem poem, which argues that we should
‘seize the day’ because life is short. Here is Marvell’s poem,
followed by a brief summary and analysis of its language
and meaning.

First, a quick summary of ‘To His Coy Mistress’, which we

can see as being divided up into three sections, each
forming a distinct stage of an argument. In the first section,
Marvell, addressing his sweetheart, says that the woman’s
reluctance to have sex with him would be fine, if life wasn’t
so short. They could take their time with everything if they
had all the time in the world, deciding at leisure how to
spend each day. They could even spend much time on
different continents: Marvell in Hull, England, complaining
about his absent love as he sits by the River Humber, and
his mistress in India by the Ganges, finding rubies. Marvell
would spend thousands of years praising the woman’s eyes
(and breasts), because she deserves such praise and
attention.

First, a quick summary of ‘To His Coy Mistress’, which we

can see as being divided up into three sections, each
forming a distinct stage of an argument. In the first section,
Marvell, addressing his sweetheart, says that the woman’s
reluctance to have sex with him would be fine, if life wasn’t
so short. They could take their time with everything if they
had all the time in the world, deciding at leisure how to
spend each day. They could even spend much time on
different continents: Marvell in Hull, England, complaining
about his absent love as he sits by the River Humber, and
his mistress in India by the Ganges, finding rubies. Marvell
would spend thousands of years praising the woman’s eyes
(and breasts), because she deserves such praise and
attention.

First, a quick summary of ‘To His Coy Mistress’, which we

can see as being divided up into three sections, each
forming a distinct stage of an argument. In the first section,
Marvell, addressing his sweetheart, says that the woman’s
reluctance to have sex with him would be fine, if life wasn’t
so short. They could take their time with everything if they
had all the time in the world, deciding at leisure how to
spend each day. They could even spend much time on
different continents: Marvell in Hull, England, complaining
about his absent love as he sits by the River Humber, and
his mistress in India by the Ganges, finding rubies. Marvell
would spend thousands of years praising the woman’s eyes
(and breasts), because she deserves such praise and
attention.
To His Coy Mistress” Questions and Answers
1. What does the speaker entreat of his love?
Answer: The speaker is asking his mistress to make the most of their time
together and to “devour” and “tear” each other.

2. What justifications or reasoning does the speaker employ to persuade

his mistress?
Answer: Examples: time stops when he and his mistress are together, she
deserves him, he loves her, time is moving quickly so they ought to act now,
she is still young enough to enjoy him, and the sun, or happiness, cannot be
fully enjoyed until they enjoy each other.

3. Identify the allusion in line eight.

Answer: The speaker says he would love his mistress for “ten years before the
Flood.” This alludes to the Great Flood in Christian history, which killed all but
Noah and those on his ark.

4. Identify an instance of hyperbole in this poem.

Answer: Examples: the reference to the conversion of the Jews; his love
growing as vast as empires; needing a hundred years to praise her forehead;
two hundred years to adore each breast; thirty thousand years to adore the
rest of her body.

5. How would you describe his tone? Do the tone and message remain
constant throughout, or is there a shift in the poem?
Answer: The poem’s tone is one of excitement and attempts at persuasion.
The speaker is trying to woo his mistress to act on her feelings. The tone shifts
throughout the poem from one of detached observer to needy persuader. As
the poem progresses, the speaker’s attempts at winning over his mistress
come more frequently and remain more pointed.

6. How is time presented in this work?

Answer: Time is presented through a series of allusions and metaphors: the
Ganges river, biblical floods, chariot races, marble-temples, and predatory
birds.
7. What is the rhyme scheme of the poem? Are there any lines that do not
follow this scheme? Why?
Answer: The poem is written in rhyming couplets. The lines that do not follow
the scheme are lines 7-8, 23-24, and 27-28. These lines are examples of half-
rhyme, lines whose rhymes are forced to ‘fit’ because of the poem’s rhyme
scheme.

To His Coy Mistress" Quiz

Which of the following do you learn about the speaker of this poem?

a. He is well educated

b. He is Jewish

c. He is savvy about fine wines

d. He is violent

1. At the end of the poem, the speaker says that he and his lover cannot make Time stand
still, but they can

a. "enjoy the current day"

b. "outlast his cruel effects"

c. "make him run"

d. "run forward hand in hand"

2. The most prominent thematic motif(s) of the poem is/are

a. the sky and the dark cloud

b. the Wars of the Roses and King William's War

c. the space/time metaphors and sexuality

d. both a and b
3. The key theme(s) of the poem is/are

a. carpe diem

b. memento mori

c. holy matrimony

d. both a and b

4. In the lines "Thou by the Indian Ganges' side / Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide / Of
Humber would complain," what is the "Humber"?

a. The Indian Ocean

b. The English Channel

c. Lake Victoria

d. a river in England

5. In the title "To His Coy Mistress," "coy" means she is

a. already his lover

b. young and inexperienced

c. unwilling

d. married

6. In the lines "Rather at once our time devour / Than languish in his slow-chapped power,"
"his" refers to

a. the speaker

b. the king
 c. time

d. a bird of prey

7. In the lines "Thy beauty shall no more be found, / Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound /
My echoing Song. . . .," the "marble vault" is a reference to

a. the grave and the Mistress's body

b. the Mistress's perfume

c. the Mistress's willingness to have sex

d. the speaker's home

8. Who wrote "To His Coy Mistress"?

a. Andrew Marvell

b. William Shakespeare

c. Alexander Pope

d. Lord Byron

9. The structure of the poem is

a. novelistic

b. a syllogism

c. free verse

d. 14-line stanzas

10. In the lines "But at my back I always hear / Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near; / And
yonder all before us lie / Deserts of vast eternity," the "chariot" and the "deserts" are
examples of
 a. similes

b. feminine symbols

c. metaphors

d. understatement

11. "Time's wingèd chariot" is an allusion to

a. Apollo

b. Ares

c. Zeus

d. Hermes

12. Death seems a preoccupation of the speaker most likely because

a. he mourns his mother's death

b. he wants to seem sensitive to his "mistress"

c. during his time the plague accounted for thousands of deaths

d. both a and b

13. What does the speaker offer in the third stanza as the logical conclusion to be drawn from
the ideas presented in the first two stanzas?

a. one must preserve one's honor forever

b. love is too painful to be endured

c. they should love now because there is no tomorrow

d. they should repent of their sins

time has a fleeting nature
The speaker of the poem is unwilling to wait patiently for the woman's love because
a. she has proven to be flirtatious b. he doubts her virginity c. time has a fleeting
nature d. the courtship is burdensome e. the love is unrequited
the enormity of time
The speaker's allusion to "the Flood" and "the conversion of the Jews" helps to
develop the poem's theme of
a. spirituality b. universality c. romantic devotion d. the enormity of time
contradiction
The line "Had we but world enough,n and time" establishes an example of
a. paradox b. contradiction c. cause and effect d. verbal irony e. equivocation
death
The second stanza is about
a. love b. seduction c. time d. death e. virginity
insistent
The speaker's tone is primarily
a. argumentative b. condescending c. insistent d. cynical e. sarcastic
hyperbole
The prevailing poetic device in the first stanza is the use of
a. simile b. understatement c. paradox d. alliteration e. hyperbole
live life with fervor
Which of the following best describes the speaker's solution to the problem?
a. avoid the rough strife in life b. experience life with slow deliberation c. live life with
fervor d. pursue a life of pleasure e. be dedicated to the life hereafter
metonymy
The phrase "marble vault" is an example of
a. allusion b. apostrophe c. synecdoche d. denotation e. metonymy

Summary
Themes
 Questions & Answers
 Characters
 Critical Essays
 Analysis
 Teaching Guide

Anowa
PDFCiteShare
Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 249
As the title character, Anowa is the center of the play. She is a young
Ghanaian woman who is regarded as unusual and wild by others in her
village, including her parents. Before meeting Kofi Ako in phase one,
Anowa has refused to marry anyone who asked her. Her parents,
especially her mother Badua, worry about her and her future. Her desire
to marry Kofi Ako, whom her mother regards as less-than-perfect
husband material, is another unexpected twist in her life. Osam, and
others in the play, believe that Anowa would have been better off being a
priestess.

After marrying Kofi Ako, Anowa is happy to help him in his work and build
their business. Their only problem is their lack of children, which Anowa
blames on herself in the form of some unknown shortcoming. While Kofi
Ako appreciates Anowa's work to some degree, he would like it better if
she would act more like a traditional wife. Anowa has no desire to live a
life of leisure. Over her protests, Kofi Ako buys slaves which builds their
business further. As Kofi Ako's wealth grows, Anowa becomes more
alienated from him. By the end of the play, Anowa is still barren and Kofi
Ako wants her to leave. Anowa has a revelation that Kofi Ako is less than
a man, and his impotency has made them childless. Like her husband,
Anowa kills herself by the end of the play. Her free-spirited ways were
never appreciated by anyone in Anowa.

Other Characters
PDFCiteShare
Last Updated on May 6, 2015, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 719
Kofi Ako
Kofi Ako is Anowa's husband. Anowa's mother believes he is a fool and
comes from a bad family, while Osam is content that his daughter is
finally getting married. Anowa wants to help him make something of
himself. Together, the couple builds a business trading skins. At first, Kofi
Ako seems willing to accept his wife's help, though he wishes that she
were more like other wives. To make this possible and improve their lives,
Kofi Ako decides to buy slaves to help in the business. Anowa is
vehemently opposed to owning slaves, but Kofi Ako rationalizes that
because everyone else does it, it must be okay. Kofi Ako's strategy pays
off in some ways. They do become very rich with a big house in Oguaa,
but their marriage becomes strained. Anowa wants to work and is lost
when forced to do nothing. The couple drifts apart while living under the
same roof. A bigger issue between them is their lack of children, which
Anowa initially blames on herself. When Kofi Ako asks her to leave
without giving a reason in phase three, Anowa comes to question Kofi
Ako's manhood. When she accuses him of being like a woman and
implying that he is impotent in front of several slaves, Kofi Ako kills
himself. Kofi Ako never really understood his wife, only what society
expected a wife to be.
Abena Badua
Badua is the mother of Anowa and wife of Osam. She is bewildered by her
only surviving child and her attitudes. Like Kofi Ako, Badua wants Anowa
to be normal. For Badua, this means to have married at an appropriate
age. She rejects Osam's suggestion that Anowa would have been better
off training to be a priestess. Such a woman would not have been a
person. Badua is appalled when Anowa announces that she will marry Kofi
Ako. This is the worst man Anowa could have married. In Badua's opinion,
he is a fool. Badua and Anowa's disagreement comes to blows. When
Anowa leaves, she vows not to return and says that her mother is driving
her away. Despite their differences, in phase two, Badua expresses a
desire to go and look for her. Badua does not understand her daughter,
nor, in many ways, her husband. Badua is very set in her beliefs and has
no desire to compromise them. Some villagers believe that Anowa is
different because her mother spoiled her as a child.

Being-The-Mouth-That-Eats-Salt-And-Pepper
This couple set up and comment on the action of the play. The Old
Woman is very critical of Anowa and the choices she makes, while the Old
Man is more sympathetic.

Boy
Boy is one of the slaves owned by Kofi Ako. He is very interested in Girl,
and with her discusses Kofi Ako and Anowa in phase three. The Boy
follows orders given to him, and does not gossip like Girl does.

Girl
Girl is a slave in the household of Kofi Ako and Anowa. She gossips to Boy
about the couple's problems. She tells him how many believe there is
something wrong with Anowa, but is also sympathetic to her mistress's
lack of children. Girl can imagine what she would do in Anowa's position.
She also believes that Kofi Ako is afraid of women.

Old Man
See Being-The-Mouth-That-Eats-Salt-And-Pepper.

Old Woman
See Being-The-Mouth-That-Eats-Salt-And-Pepper.

Osam
Osam is the father of Anowa and the husband of Badua. Though local
custom dictates that he does not play much of a role in finding a husband
for his daughter, Osam does not have a big problem with her marrying
Kofi Ako. He admits that she is wild, but his wife has previously shot down
his suggestion that Anowa be apprenticed to a priestess. Unlike Badua,
Osam has some understanding of his daughter and her beliefs. Osam
comprehends Anowa's problem with slavery. Yet he also acknowledges in
phase two that he has always feared Anowa and thought her strange.
Osam gets along with his wife, though he believes that she complains too
much. They often disagree, but stay together.

Panyin-Na-Kakra
Panyin-Na-Kakra are a set of eight-year-old twin boys who are slaves in
the house of Kofi Ako and Anowa. In phase three, the boys fan the gilded
chair of Kofi Ako before his arrival. When Anowa sees them doing this
task, she sends them away.