Topic > The Logic of Metaphor in Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress"

Marvell's To His Coy Mistress was written when Cromwell's Calvinism limited freedom and free will, and the poem exemplifies an unconventional affirmation of love and sexual proposals, while validating the request to give in to sexual activity with three “arguments”, structured in stanzas. These segments of the poem consider what would happen if the speaker and his beloved had eternity, the reality of life's brevity, and the potential joy of sexual union. Marvell uses a number of linguistic-stylistic devices to support his central method of sexual imagery. The poem's enhancement caused by its use of enigmatic metaphors in rhyming couplets within iambic tetrameter makes us question whether Marvell is condemning deceptive male chauvinism or female timidity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Petrarchan language Marvell uses fundamentally determines the structure of “To His Coy Mistress,” as the speaker begins the poem by suggesting the consequences of acquiring eternity to pursue their courtship: “If only we had enough world and time, this shyness, madam, would not be a crime." By applying hyperbole, metaphor, and the conditional to this devious speculation, he implies that the speaker lacks unlimited amounts of time to await their sexual union, yet he achieves such a persuasive trait, through metaphor, that it unlocks the emotional barrier of doubt in the "mistress". Marvell recognizes that "metaphor is pervasive in language"[1] as "the listener is thrown into a state of momentary uncertainty"[2] which creates an alternative dimension to his or her view of reality. It suggests that this woman's "shyness" is almost criminal through the imagery fabricated by the use of the word "crime." This implies that refusing sex automatically makes her a delinquent, alluding to the religious and moral expectations of 17th century society, where fornication was seen as a crime as church morality dominated social behavior. The tone of the poem is quite didactic as the speaker presents the "lady" as "coy" which connotes reluctance with an underlying need to be mischievous; implies insincerity. The poem's title then suggests that the lover is simply pretending not to want to have sex with him, and the poem goes on to explain why he calls "shyness" a "crime." The poet's concerns simply transcend the narrator's view of 17th-century personal or everyday moral constraints and articulate how all readers should grasp life with both hands and live every moment to the fullest without having to think about every detail, thus presenting "a very modern vision". of chastity". On the other hand, as the first stanza proceeds, Marvell describes the “crime” of wasting immeasurable time by implicitly criticizing the seducer through “The rich mixture of the symbolic.” suggestion”[3] (24c) as it states the oxymoron “My vegetal love should grow, larger than empires and slower”. This could be seen as associating his “love” with a surprisingly erotic, extremely suggestive “vegetable” which may have shocked 17th century readers, but at the same time could suggest how inert and bland their love would be if they were to postpone the desire physical indefinitely. The overall effect of the first stanza is that the victim feels as if he is almost patronizing her and overindulging in every woman's desire for true love and saying that the speaker could be a potential lover, however as it progressesof the second verse outlines scenarios that easily reveal that he is selfish and manipulative and questions whether his actions are real. stanza, the movement of the verse is smooth and unhindered as it begins with the connective "But" as if to imply reluctance to any word except "yes", so there is a clear contrast between the first section and the second to show that the speaker is anxious to pursue his desires at once. Marvell uses the indicative metaphor "And there they all lie before us, deserts of vast eternity" to juxtapose "time" with the vastness of a "desert", suggesting that their future is represented by a desert, in the sense that deserts symbolize desolation and emptiness if they put off sex for too long. The speaker attempts to persuade the lover to have sex with him, but vividly and uncharacteristically suggests that "worms will try that long-preserved virginity." This powerful image is apparently a shock tactic aimed at presenting an unattractive alternative to his proposal since “it is typical for metaphors to use concrete images to convey something abstract, helping to communicate what is difficult to explain”[4] (14d ). The reader sees this as Marvell criticizing the seducer because the comment is so counterproductive that it is likely to defer the potential lover with her almost horrible cynical image, but the speaker is manipulating her into believing that a terrible event would happen to her if she doesn't would succumb. to his will. Therefore the representative hyperbole's response (that if she refuses his offer, she will remain a virgin forever) will be disgusting to her since her virginity would still be taken away by the worms in the grave. Marvell continues this interesting and elaborate notion of time by criticizing the lover by stating that his "strange honor" will "turn to dust" and all his "ashes" will see his "lust"; this mockery of possessing her "strange honor" means that when she dies she would regret not experiencing such a vital part of life with him, so it is important that the experience is seized upon now. The rhyme between “dust” and “lust” draws an absurd comparison between death and love, suggesting that love (or in this case – lovemaking) is such an essential part of life and that the relationship between death and love it is of antagonism that could make the seducer want to participate in a sexual relationship with him and thus avoid death. Marvell also personifies time as a “winged chariot hastily approaching” “This model of concretization,” where we try to capture the essence of an abstraction by reframing it in terms of something more palpable……”[5] (16a) to help us perceive a moving vehicle moving towards us, it is an echo of Apollo's chariot – a reference to classical mythology. The idea of ​​a journey appeals to the reader's kinetic senses as the thought-provoking images that time moves and travels would have been as current as the invention of the first clock was in 1656, so contemporary readers would have had an immediate understanding of the events described. “If we make love the way I want, it will be very important” is the message the speaker wants to convey to his lover in the final stanza, and it is evident in his repetition of the imperative “now.” This demonstration of his unwillingness to wait is also represented in the simile "Now let us play while we may, and now, like loving birds of prey", by comparing their company to "loving birds of prey" the narrator creates conflicting ideas in the reader's mind as “ amorosa” expresses love and “birds of prey” are animals that hunt vigorously. This echoes a desperate and wild lust as a hunt or sexual “sport” of freedom showing that “elaboration involves capturing an existing component of the source domain in an unusual or"