To His Coy Mistress

Question 1

Who wrote this poem

Answer 1

Andrew Marvell

Question 2

What type of poem is this?

Answer 2

Metaphysical poem, Carpe diem- ‘seize the day’

Question 3

What is the structure of the poem

Answer 3

• Rhyme scheme: first 10 lines follow scheme aabbccddee which is repeated throughout the poem. Each rhyming couplet is designed to feel separate from each other

• Mainly iambic tetrameter
• 3 stanzas at different lengths

Question 4

Give some synopsis of the poem

Answer 4

• Constraints of mortality
• Lament the briefness of human life
• asks the woman to embrace his romantic efforts
• Marvell is a satirist: uses humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule

Question 5

Give some historical context of the poem

Answer 5

• Written in 1650: English Interregnum: execution of Charles I. England underwent various forms of republican government which meant it was a relatively unstable time for the country
• No political references

Question 6

Give some literary context of the poem

Answer 6

• Metaphysical poem
• Highly intellectual
• Strange Imagery
• Frequent paradox
• Complicated thought
• Witty and florid
• Petrarchan sonnet: beginning in line 11
• Seduction poem

Question 7

Give some context on Andrew Marvell

Answer 7

• Metaphysical poet
• Pioneer in political satire
• Patriotic and political writer
• Enemy of court corruption
• Drew comparisons between the “intellectual poet” and the “reflective poet” and self-consciousness
• Classical and biblical sources

Question 8

Discuss the perspective of the poem

Answer 8

• Religious turmoil: “Conversion of the Jews”
• British conquest: “Indian Ganges”
• Greek Mythology: “Time’s winged chariot”
• The speaker must be highly educated as he persuades through hyperbolic praise, however we learn nothing of the pair’s relationship

Question 9

What is the significance of the rhyme scheme and form

Answer 9

• Three stanzas of varying lengths: rebels against traditional 17th century styles of poem.

• Falls short of vein in heroic verse: touches on themes such as epic battles

• Heroic verse used rhyming iambic pentameter couplets whereas Marvell almost deliberately misses a foot and follows the scheme of rhyming tetrameter couplets. It appears he is mocking heroic verse or the poem itself is mocking the speaker earnestness

Question 10

What is the significance of the metre used

Answer 10

• Regular iambic pentameter
• although disrupted at crucial moments e.g “Now let us sport us while we may”.
• Stress is on the first syllable and two unstressed syllables follow creating a trochee. This creates a sense of stumbling forward

Question 11

What figure of speech is used in the following sentences and state it’s significance
• “Time’s winged chariot”
• “his slow chap’t power”

Answer 11

• Personification
• Personification of times as though it has the capacity to control everything
• Line 1: god-like connotations suggesting time is untouchable and out of mortal reach
• Line 2: Times is a person enjoying his control.
• Personification parallels sonnet 116 which has a more horrifying image with the use of the grim reaper whereas Marvell characterises time as rather stately and removed personage
• Gruesome effects of time and mortality

Question 12

What figure of speech is used in the following sentence and state it’s significance
• “worms shall try that long preserved virginity

Answer 12

• Hyperbole
• Derogatory of the speaker
• induce fear
• Even with unlimited time at his disposal, that he would spend thousands of years extolling her beauty is a clear exaggeration

Question 13

What is the purpose of alliteration in the poem and where can it be found?

Answer 13

• To create emphasis on the focus on consummating desires.
• Lines 1-4 ‘w’ sound
• Line 4 ‘l’ sound: elongated the phrase thereby highlighting its length

Question 14

What figure of speech is used in the following sentences and what is its purpose
• “To walk, and pass our long love’s day”
• “My vegetable love”

Answer 14

• Metaphor
• Line 1: paradoxical as the day he is describing is part of a situation in which they have infinite time.
• Line 2: Suggests his love is slow-growing but deep rooted like a vegetable, also suggests that his love is natural. double entendre

Question 15

How is the symbol of the heart used in this poem?

Answer 15

• The speaker would be satisfied with a non-physical relationship
• “you should, if you please, refuse/Till the conversion of the Jews”
• Her heart is the true prize
• Trying to quench his mistress’ fears. He may abandon her once he has slept with her

Question 16

What quotations in this poem parallel the great Gatsby

Answer 16

• “at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near”
• “rested against the face of a defunct mantelpiece clock” chapter 5

• “though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run”
• “I am going to fix everything the way it was before” chapter 6

Question 17

How is the theme of love and loss explored in this poem ?

Answer 17

• Threatened by mortality
• wants to emphasise the loss the mistress will experience
• “deserts of vast eternity/ Thy beauty shall no be found”
• “The graves a fine and private place,/ but none, I think, so there embrace”
• Suggests that death is a barren land with nothing in it

Question 18

What are the similarities and differences between this poem and whoso list to hunt

Answer 18

Similarities
• Both poems portray an attempt to conquer somebody
• There are barriers to love in both poems
• Control and structure are present in both

Differences
• This poem uses euphemisms and double entendres
• This poem is playful, confident and triumphant while whoso is the lament of a disappointed suitor
• In this poem, the speaker addresses the woman directly whereas in whoso the speaker addresses anyone who is interested in potentially hunting