An Interpretation of to His Coy Mistress

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In the poem To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell the speaker seem to be infatuated with a woman to whom he is writing to. The manner in which Marvell writes may convince readers it is a love poem, but behind his poetic devices and use of language the writer seems to have a different objective then originally thought by the reader. The title of this poem is particularly important to its entire meaning. Marvell uses the two words his and coy to describe the mistress. Most people would say using my instead of his would have the same meaning, but they would be wrong. Marvell uses his because to use my would imply that he himself is the speaker of the poem when if fact Marvell is not. Marvell writes this poem in the perspective of an impatient man who is desperate to be with a certain young lady. That is the man whom the mistress so belongs to; not Marvell. The word coy makes the mistress appear that she may have feelings for the speaker, but the speaker is unsure and that is the purpose of the poem. The speaker’s motive for this poem is to show his aspiration for the young lady and not an expression of “true love”. This makes the speaker seem like he is only thinking of himself and less of the young lady, yet to this Marvell brings a very important theme to the poem. Carpe diem is a term used by the ancient Roman meaning seize the day. Marvell uses it to explain to the young lady that if he had all the time in the world he would rightfully show his affection to her, but seeing as life is short they should begin a courtship and not waste time. Within this poem Marvell uses a variety of figurative language to express the feelings of the speaker towards the young lady. In the first stanza the writer goes on about all he would do with and for her to prove himself worthy. In lines 11 and 12, the poet uses the word vegetable to explain how his love for her is alive
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