To his coy mistress

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Wednesday 1 st February 2012 Learning Objective: To be able to infer, deduce and interpret ideas about His Coy Mistress Must: C Should: B Could: A Starter: Find His Coy Mistress in your Anthologies and read this to yourself quietly. This is a challenging poem and you need to pay attention to it.

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An analysis of To his Coy Mistress. AQA Moon on the Tides Anthology

Transcript of To his coy mistress

  • 1. Wednesday1 st February 2012 Learning Objective:To be able to infer, deduce and interpretideas about His Coy Mistress Must: CShould: BCould: AStarter: Find His Coy Mistress in yourAnthologies and read this to yourselfquietly. This is a challenging poem andyou need to pay attention to it.

2. Break it down! There was a man falling in love with hismistress. He wanted to make love to her, butthe mistress was shy and turned him down.The speaker wrote the poem to the mistress inorder to persuade her to accept him. 3. Vocabulary 1. Coy - A coy person is shy, or pretends to be shy, aboutlove and sex. (The mistress) Ex: She gave a coy smile when he paid her a compliment. 2. Conversion - Someone changes his religion or beliefs.(Conversion of Jews) Ex: Its hard to believe his conversion to Christianity. 3. Vast - very large in area, size, quantity or degree;immense (The speakers love for the mistress) Ex: A vast expanse of desert. 4. Chariot - fast-moving vehicles with two wheels that arepulled by horses (Time) 4. 5. Eternity - Eternity is time without an end or a stateof existence outside time, especially the state which somepeople believe they will pass into after they have died. Ex: I have always found the thought of eternity terrifying. 6. Quaint - Something that is quaint is attractivebecause it is unusual and rather old-fashioned. (The honorof virginity) Ex: This may seem a quaint idea in thus age. 7. Vault- A vault is a room underneath a church wherepeople are buried, usually the members of a single family. Ex: He ordered Matildas body should be buried in thefamily vault. 5. 8. Lust - Lust is a feeling of strong sexual desire forsomeone. Ex: His relationship with Angie was first which combinedlust with friendship. 9. Hue - color Ex: The same hue will look different in different light. 10. Dew - Dew is small drops of water that form on theground and the other surfaces outdoors during the light.(The mistresss skin) Ex: The dew gathered on the leaves. 11. Transpire - (of plants) give off (water vapor) fromthe surface of leaves. 12. Pore - Pores are the tiny holes in humans skin. Ex: He was sweating at every pore. 6. 13. Amorous (amrous, line38) - readily showingor feeling love; relating to love, especially sexuallove) (wild and passionate love) Ex: He became quite amorous at the office party. 14. Prey - animals or birds hunted and killed byanother for food Ex: The lion stalked its prey through the long grass. 15. Languish - be or become weak and miserablebecause of unfulfilled longings Ex: He languishes for love. 16. Strife - violence of making love 7. Speaker :An adorer of the mistressListener : The mistress 8. Theme Carpe dien seize the day and have fun. This is a seducing poem. The speaker showshis strong passion for the mistress and triedvery hard to persuade her to make love tohim. Because time and time wait for noman, he asks her to seize the day and havefun, or she will regret when she is dead. 9. To His Coy MistressMistress: A woman with whom a IF we had enough space byman is in love and time Andrew Marvell HAD we but world enough, and time, Coy: to be shy; This coyness, Lady, were no crime crime = problem or reluctant to make We would sit down and think which way something regrettable commitments To walk and pass our long loves day. Thou by the Indian Ganges sideEast (India) Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide West; The Humber is a Of Humber would complain. I would river in England; his fatherLove you ten years before the Flood,Refers to the flood from the story of drowned in this river.Noahs Ark in the Bible/Genesis (the And you should, if you please, refuse beginning) Till the conversion of the Jews. My vegetable love should growThis conversion will never happen,It will grow slowly (like a seedgrowing into a vegetable) Vaster than empires, and more slow; so hes saying that she could keep An hundred years should go to praise refusing his love until eternity Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze; Two hundred to adore each breast, Hes explaining to her how much tim he would spend admiring each part But thirty thousand to the rest;her body . An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, Lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate. 10. But at my back I always hearTimes wingd chariot hurrying near;And yonder all before us lieDeserts of vast eternity. Whereas the first stanza focuses on anThy beauty shall no more be found, ideal situation (If we had all the timeNor, in thy marble vault, shall sound in the world), this stanza focuses onreality (we dont have all the time inMy echoing song: then worms shall trythe world; life is short; we eventuallyThat long preserved virginity,die).And your quaint honor turn to dust,And into ashes all my lust: Marvell reinforces these ideas throughThe graves a fine and private place, death imagery.But none, I think, do there embrace.The overall idea in thisNow therefore, while the youthful huestanza is carpe diem (orSits on thy skin like morning dew,seize the day). He issaying, lets get together And while thy willing soul transpireswhile were still young! At every pore with instant fires,Now let us sport us while we may,Notice how many times heAnd now, like amorous birds of prey,employs the word now. Rather at once our time devourThan languish in his slow-chapped power.There are two similes inLet us roll all our strength and allthis section. What are thecomparisons being made? Our sweetness up into one ball,And tear our pleasures with rough strifeRather than running from the sunThrough the iron gates of life: (which is associated with time), theyThus, though we cannot make our sun will make it run with their intense PersonificationStand still, yet we will make him run. love. 11. Structure I 1st. Stanza: The speaker told themistress how much he loved her. Ex: 1. I would love you ten years before theFlood. ( P.739 Line7~8) It is very early in the history 12. 2. An hundred years should go topraiseTwo hundred to adore eachbreast: But thirty thousand to the rest(P.739 Line13~16) The speaker uses the words, such asan hundred years, two hundred years, and thirty thousand years to describehis deep and lasting love toward themistress. 13. 2nd. Stanza: The speaker threatens the mistress if she does not seize the day to havefun, she will regret when she dies because timeflies.Ex:1. Butat my back I always hear timeswinged chariot hurrying near(P.739Line21~22) Time waits for no men. 14. 2. Thy beauty shall no more be found, nor in thy marble vault shall sound myechoing songs; then worms shall try thatlong preserved virginity, and your quainthonor turn to dust(P.739 Line 25~29) The speaker tells the mistress that she shouldcherish time or once the mistress is dead, therewill be only worms to admire her virginity. 15. 3rd. Stanza: The speaker convinces the mistress to make love to him.Ex: 1. Nowlet us sport us while we may; andnow, like amrous birds of prey. (P.740 Line37~38) Sport is a verb here, which means make love. The speaker convinces the mistress that she shouldnot repress her feeling and should make love to him. 16. 2. Let us roll all our strength, and all our sweetness, up into one ball.(P.740 Line 41~42) Ball means making love. Let us make love so that our soul and body will combine. 17. 3. Thorough theiron gates of life(P.740 Line 44) If we make love, we are not afraid of death. Here, iron gates represents death. 18. 4. Thus,though we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run.(P.740 Line 45~46) This sentence has 2 meanings.One is that our passion toward each other will melt the sun.The other is we can speed up the time, and dosomething meaningful. 19. Structure II A. The poem is combined with time and space. We cansee that from: The first stanza: 1.Had we but world enough, and timespace 2.Thou by the Indian Ganges: Of Humber would complain. I would * River Ganges is in India, and Humber is in England. Thereis a long distance between the speaker (Humber) and themistress (Indian Ganges), but the long distance doesntaffect his love toward the mistress. 20. The second stanza: But at my back I always hearTimes winged chariot hurrying near;Time::Deserts of vast eternity. Space 21. B.1. Had we but world enough, and timeThe speaker imagined that they had enough world and time.2. But at my back I always hear Times winged chariot hurrying nearThe speaker said that in fact, life is not eternal. 3. Now therefore, while the youthful hueSits on thy skin like morning dew, The speaker persuades the mistress to seize the time andmake love with him. 22. Irony . That long preserved virginity/ Andyour quaint honor turn to dust To keep her honor, the mistress sticks to herprinciple to remain her virginity. But after shedies, all she keeps turn out to be dust andnothing meaningful is left. The speaker tries toargue whether virginity is honorable to her. 23. . The graves fine and private place/But none, I think, do there embrace The speaker uses ironic tone tothreaten the mistress if she doesnt seize the day to have fun, she willregret once she dies. 24. . Deserts of eternity/ And your quaint honorturn dust/ And into ashes all my lust. The speaker said the desert is eternal because itisnt affected by time. In the later lines, the speaker compares quaint honor to dust, and lust to ashes.Although dust and ashes are eternal, just like thedesert, these two things are meaningless. The speakersaid because humans are mortal, humans should seize the time to do whatever they would like to do. The speaker persuades the mistress to express the desireand seize the day to enjoy life. 25. Allusion 1. I would loveyou before theFlood(P.739 Line 8) Flood happened in the story of Noahark, which occurs in Genesis some time aftercreation. It indicates he shall love her early inhistory. 26. 2. And you should, if you please, refusethe conversion of Jews. (P.739 Line 9,10) According to the Bible, the conversion of Jews will come before the end of the world, which isjudgment day. So this sentence means that the speaker would love the mistress shortly before the end of the world. 27. 3. That long preserved virginity, andyour quaint honor turn to dust.(P.739 Line 28-29)Quaint honor represents whatthe mistress is keeping now, whichis her long preserved virginity. 28. Imagery 1. Vegetable (P739 Line 11) The symbolic meaning of VegetableLove is deep and unconsciously growinglove. The root of the vegetable is deep intothe soil and the vegetable grows slowly, justlike the speakers love toward the mistress inan ideal state. 29. 2. But at my back I always hear Timeswinged chariot hurrying near.(P.739 Line 21-22)Time flies. Winged and Chariot represent somethingpassing quickly. 30. 3. Thy beauty shall no moremarble vault shall sound my echoing song.(P.739 Line 25-27)It means when the mistressdies, she wont be able to enjoy life anymore. 31. 4. Now let us sport us while we May And now, like amorous birds of prey(P.740 Line 37-38) Sport means making love.The speaker convinces the mistressthat they should make lovepassionately and dont represstheir desire for sex just like amorous birds of prey. 32. 5. Tear our pleasure with rough strife(P.740 Line 43)Strife originally means fight.But here, strife means orgasm,which means the moment whenyou have the greatest sexualpleasure during sex. 33. 6. Iron gates of life (P.740 Line 44) Iron gates of life meansdeath. When making love, theyare not afraid of death. 34. 7. We cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.(P.740 Line 45-46) In this sentence, using the wordsun is a kind pun. One is Sun represents heat but it still cant affect our love, and even our passioncan melt the Sun. The other is that the sun means time, and we have to speed up the time.