Marvell, "To His Coy Mistress"
Student group: Example intepretation, incorporating comments from critics, Jan 22 2009
Marvell's main idea --> seduction poem
Evidence from poem: -- in the beginning "A hundred years should go to praise"
Opposes: "Sits on thy skin like morning dew"
-- inevitability of death --> why wait?
-- sense of urgency near the end of the poem
Different view by line 21;
-- first lines --> optimistic --> we'll live for ever
-- afterwards --> more realistic --> possibility of looming death
--supported by Halli: "recalling the belief that each sexual act shortened a life span by a day"
-- Criders --> "they cannot halt time, for that would be against nature; but they can live optimally, making life run its full and natural course"
-- supports carpe diem approach.References
Crider, Richard. "Marvell's Valid Logic." College Literature 15 (1988): 224-232.
Halli, Robert W., Jr. "The Persuasion of the Coy Mistress." Philological Quarterly, 80 (2001): 57-70.
Document created January 22 2009