Topic > Logical Form and Formal Logic in "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell

Dialectical structure is probably one of the main characteristics of all metaphysical poetry. Donne was the pioneer of this type of poetry, characterized by erudite studies and difficulty of thought. It is said that an entire book of knowledge can be compiled from the scholarly allusions in Donne and Cowley alone. This, perhaps, often leads to obscurity, which was considered one of the demerits of metaphysical poetry, and many of Donne's contemporaries believed that he "confuses the pleasures of poetry with the pleasures of puzzles". In fact, there are many who approve of this kind of complexity, because it is challenging and new to them. But critics generally agree that such poetry imposes intellectual demands on the reader, forcing him to think logically. Furthermore, the very fact that only an erudite audience can adequately appreciate this poem makes its readership limited. The fact is that Donne and his contemporaries bring the mind into play, even when expressing profound emotional or spiritual themes. The very combination of spiritual and emotional subject matter and intellectual and logical form is the essence of the kind of poetry that Donne developed. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Among all the metaphysical poets, however, there is none, not even Donne, who adheres to the methodology of formal logic as much as Andrew Marvell. His poems therefore become both speculative and imaginative poetry and intellectual exercises based on notebook methods of argumentation and analysis. One of his most popular and representative poems in this regard is "To His Coy Mistress", a poem that can be used as a supreme example of the method of metaphysical dialectics. The two logical methods that Marvell employs in this poem are taken from formal logic and philosophy. The first is the formal method of argumentation known as a syllogism. The second is a philosophical premise that is part of ancient hedonistic doctrines and has been popularly known as the Carpe-diem theme. The use of logical syllogism is basically of two types: inductive and deductive. Inductive logic is instilled in us by everyday experience, such as the logic contained in the sentence: “The sun rises in the east.” It disturbs our logical sense to say that it rises in the west, for the sole reason that it is unnatural. Inductive logic, however, can change over time under the onslaught of deductive logic, as when people change their minds from saying “The earth is flat” to “The earth is round.” Deductive logic, however, forms the core of all logical treatises and consists of different methods and types of inferences. The syllogism is a component of deductive logic, in which there are three categorical propositions, consisting of two premises and a conclusion. The conclusion that emerges is true IF the two terms are true. A typical example is the following: all men are mortal; Indians are men; So all Indians are mortal. We must accept the first two premises of inductive logic, namely that men are mortal and that Indians are men. Only then will we be able to reach the conclusion that emerges from these premises. Often, when it is not clear whether the first two premises are true, the syllogism is represented by the structure If....But....So, like the following: If man could fly he would be a bird; But man cannot fly; Therefore man is not a bird. It is this structure that is followed in To His Coy Mistress. To His Coy Mistress is a typically metaphysical poem, which was heavily influenced by Donne. Yet, there is no poem by Donne that is so rigidly logical in form. The poem is written entirely from the man's point of view, and the rigidly logical analysis isfocuses almost totally on the lover's desire, ignoring any analysis of the woman's shyness. As such, being totally intellectualHowever, common readers find a lack of true and deep emotions, even though it is a poem about love, and the nature of love focuses almost totally on the physical aspect. In this respect he can also be considered a cold calculator. Being syllogistic in structure, corresponding to the format If.....But...Therefore, the poem has three distinct parts – 1) What would he do IF he had enough space and time; 2) BUT time flies; 3) THEREFORE we must seize the moment while it lasts. Donne is also polemical and persuasive, but never in such an extreme form. The first section of the poem is a speculation on what the poet would have done IF he had enough time and space. In fact, the entire poem is based on the space-time continuum and each line has words or references to space or time. If the poet had had enough time, he would have courted his lover ten years before the Flood (which, by the way, refers both to the biblical flood in which Noah was saved by means of his ark, and to the classical flood, in which Deucalion and Pyrrha would have remained alive amid the general ruin), and she would have had enough time to reject him until the day of judgment. In other words, he would have the entire span of time at his disposal, from Creation to the Day of Judgment, to prolong his lovemaking at will. With so much time on his hands, he would spend a hundred years praising her eyes and her forehead, and two hundred adoring her breasts. Thirty thousand years would be spent worshiping the rest of his body. Likewise, if he had the entire world as his space, he would allow his love to grow larger and slower than the great empires – in this case, the former Jewish empire. In this sense, his love is truly "vegetable love", which grows on its own, filling all the surrounding space if not restrained, and is totally platonic and non-physical in character. BUT, says the poet in the second section, Time unfortunately he is not so generous and is always behind him, hurrying him. Marvell here uses a significant conceit to imagine Time speeding in a winged chariot, soon to overtake them. Before them lies Eternity, like an immense desert, barren and barren, in which it is useless to run to escape the hasty chariot of Time. The idea is that even if the lover manages to preserve her virginity until death, she will not be able to escape the ravages of time, for in the grave her body will slowly crumble to dust, and her virginity, which she had preserved with such care all these years, it will be penetrated by worms. As such, he will not be able to keep his precious virginity after all, because even if he remains celibate in life, he will lose it to worms after death. It is an overtly sexual image, but it is purposely used by the poet to instill a feeling of disgust towards death, which is his purpose. The space-time continuum is brought forward here from a different point of view. The infinite space and time of the first part of the argument are closed in the second part to the space of a small tomb and the uselessness of time in death. The third section, which deals with the “THEREFORE” part of the argument, is dedicated to convincing the lady that she should make use of all the time she has available. The poet's suggestion on how to spend this fleeting time is essentially sensual and is based on the fact that the lover possesses the two things necessary for a sensual enjoyment of life: youth, which clings to his skin like morning dew, and burning fire of passion, of which every pore transpires. Lovers are like birds of prey that “tear” their “pleasures with harshnessstruggles”, thus devouring Time, which poses so many problems – an image in which sexual connotations are in the foreground. That way, Marvell says, they may not be able to “stop the sun” – that is, lengthen time; but they will certainly force the sun to "run", that is, to use time so completely that the awareness of it can be minimized. Furthermore, since the sun represents life and energy regardless of time, making it "run" also means making the most of life and energy. Poetry thus gives us a sense of the wide gap between the ideal and the real, between what is imagined and what is actually possible. Syllogistic logic, although belonging to the deductive type, can easily be used for mockery or satire, making the lines seem logical, while the logic is always undermined. This distortion of logic is common and with the syllogistic method false premises can be categorically stated and conclusions can be drawn that do not emerge directly from them. False syllogisms have been the hallmark of many swindlers, and even of many poets, and have been widely used by both jurists and philosophers. In fact, “Statement of a false syllogism” was Schopenhauer's twenty-fourth stratagem. From this point of view, it can be safely said that To His Coy Mistress is a great example of false logic using the syllogistic method. Apparently this poem is strictly framed according to the If.....But... ..therefore structure. However, the main rule for an acceptable syllogism is that the conclusion must be drawn from the two premises given above. In this poem the “If” section describes a speculation about what the poet would have done IF he had infinite space and time. The second section states the obvious: that it does not have this infinity. The third section, however, does not automatically emerge from these two premises. Not having enough space and time, the lover advises his demure mistress that they will have to use the time they have to make wild love and to destroy their "pleasures with bitter fights" - a conclusion which can be contrasted with many other conclusions concerning the way a couple can pass the time. As such, the final section is totally individualistic and not a general rule. The conclusion we readers can therefore draw is that Marvell is fundamentally a poet who writes poetry, and not a logical treatise. The tone of the entire poem is light and playful, aimed at derision, rather than passionate and loving, aimed at true emotion. Even logic, then, is mocking, constructing an argument that is fundamentally empty. This is why the poem has always been appreciated as one of the best examples of metaphysical poetry, not Puritan logic. The theme of Carpe-diem: hedonism has always been expressed in a cover of logic. There are different modes and strains of hedonistic philosophy, and they all basically try to argue that pleasure is man's only aim and purpose, since his life is short and there is not much to look forward to after it is over. The Epicurean philosophy of the Greeks, for example, seeks to analyze the truism of the proposition: "Eat, drink and be happy, for tomorrow we die." The very word “for” suggests a logical analysis. We should enjoy life not because it is what we want, but because time is fleeting and there will be no more time to enjoy the pleasures of the world. Usually hedonistic philosophies are strongly materialistic, often rejecting any belief in an afterlife, as the idea of ​​heaven and hell is not very conducive to considering pleasure as the highest good, as too much pleasure is usually discouraged by established religions. One of these various branches of hedonistic thought gave rise to the theme of Carpe-diem,originally used from an ode by Horace, but developed as a password for pleasure. The word loosely means “Seize the moment”, that is, seize time before it passes. This is, furthermore, linked to later themes, such as Carpe-florem (“Gather the rosebuds while you can” from Herrick's famous poem), which ultimately all mean the same. All these have become popular motifs in lyric poetry. The speaker of a carpe-diem poem emphasizes that life is short and that time is fleeting, to convince his lover to make the most of the pleasures immediately available to her. Later, when carpe-diem is associated with carpe-florem, the rose becomes the symbol of the beauty and transience of life, as in Spenser's The Faerie Queene – “Gather again the rose while it is yet in bloom”. In Marvell's Coy Mistress the lover expresses desperation in pursuing pleasures, due to the inevitable death sentence that is the certain end of man. The first section, in which the poet lists the ways in which he would use time and space if he had them in infinite measures, serves as a prelude to the actual development of the carpe-diem theme. It is notable that even if he had all the time in the world in his hands, he would only use it to derive the pleasures of love – to praise and adore his lover for as long as possible. It is the second section where the true meaning of the theme becomes clear. Here, in contrast to the speculative infinity of time and space of the first section, the other extreme – the narrowness of space and time – is described. The image of the virgin lying dead in her coffin with worms devouring her is deliberately anti-romantic, for it is the poet's aim to make death seem as unattractive as possible compared to life. Indeed, the theme of carpe-diem automatically brings with it speculation about what the lady will become when she becomes old and ugly. Furthermore, the space-time continuum is brought forward here from a different point of view. The infinity, space and time of the first part of the argument are closed to the space of a small tomb, and to the uselessness of time in death, in the second part. It is also interesting that the view of death presented in the second part is in direct contradiction to the Christian doctrine of life after death. Coming from a puritan like Marvell this is truly astonishing. We may accept that such a view is deliberately non-Christian for the sake of argument, but it is decidedly pagan in its celebration of life, totally ignoring considerations of morality or faith. Death is shown to be the end and, as such, the value of life becomes greater – something that is usually the logic of all hedonistic doctrines. Instead of seeing death as a stepping stone to a better life, it is shown as scary and disgusting. The concept of worms penetrating the lover's virginity emphasizes the intense sensuality of the lover's discussion. The third part deals with the present – ​​the use that lovers can make of space and time as they are available now. Taking into account the limited time available to the lovers, they will have to "snatch" their pleasures "with bitter contention", like "prey". This image immediately brings to mind associations of unbridled passion, which is what the poet claims as “pleasure.” However, the outcome of this passion is closer to the scholastic point of view, more commonly accepted by metaphysical poets in general. By consummating their love, the lovers will bring together all their strength and sweetness in a ball which, it must be remembered, is also the traditional symbol of perfection – something achieved by the union of the qualities of strength (Male) and sweetness (Female), both necessary to put it all together. The idea of ​​these qualities coming together to create the.