But also through the allusions made on distance which are related to the time, such as “Indian Gange's” line 5 and “Humber” represent a great distance which is perhaps an innuendo of a great amount of time which will fly away if they don't consume their love.
However, these historical events and the allusions aren't the only marks of the carpe diem ideal in this poem, because Andrew Marvell's imagery is also composed of a important amount of striking metaphors about time. As a consequence, he uses the image of the “Time's winged chariot hurrying near”
line 22 which is actually the allusion to Phoebus Apollo, the god of the sun whom drove his chariot across the sky each day filling the world with light to
seal the end of the day and the beginning of another one. He also uses the metaphor of vegetables for love which takes its time” My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow” line11-12 among others.
Yet, this structure and images in To His Coy Mistress offers a strong meaning about the time and the duty the two lovers has upon it.
Mostly because it delivers the message the narrator of the poem want to send to his mistress, namely that time's running after them and them must fight it with a sexual intercourse as the last rhyming couplet suggests it “ Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.”. It is to this end that language is rich of images, metaphors and references like the ones given in examples earlier.
Hence, the effects on me and probably other readers is that reading this poem makes you feel a little bit better about things like time. Because at some point, everyone has probably felt like in a race against the clock, and the narrator of the poem express a similar feeling which makes us feel close to him.
Furthermore the three stanzas composing Marvell's poem appears to be structured as a logical argument in favour of an epicurean ideal which is represented by the carpe diem. Thereby, if we look closely to the lines 1 “Had we but world enough and time” , 21 “But at my back I always hear” and 33 “now therefore, while the youthful hue” which are the beginning of each stanzas we can clearly see the narrator 's argument. This argument is that if they had enough world and time he would woo her forever, but they do not, therefore they should give into sexual intercourse before it is too late.
For these reasons, we can conclude on the outstanding importance of acting on the carpe diem ideal in Andrew Marvell's poem, owing to the great use of metaphors, historical events and the allusions which creates an ubiquitous aspect of the time and so of the carpe diem ideal.
But then it seems evident to suggest that even if To His Coy Mistress is more about acting the carpe diem ideal due to his ubiquity, love and lust are as important as the carpe diem theme.
Firstly because in term of structure: love and lust are mentioned in the three stanzas just like the carpe diem ideal is, but to a limited extent.
Thus, in the first stanza the lexical field love is being referred by words like “love's day” line 4, “vegetable love” line 11 or “adore” line 15 and again ”love “ line 20 and finally “complain” line 7. In the same way, the second and the third stanzas bears the idea of love and lust in these words “ echoing song” line 27, “my lust” line 30, “instant fires” line 36, “Let us roll all our strength” line 41 or “pleasures” line 43 among others.
This lexical field of love and lust reveals that these themes are the second major ones of Andrew Marvell's poem.
Mostly because as for the carpe diem ideal the language and the images are so rich that they can express the narrator envy of lust and pleasure but also his point of view about the carnal intercourse he is asking for. Especially in the last two stanzas which reveals that the narrator can't stand the “long preserv'd virginity” of his mistress line 28 “the worms shall try” in other words he says that if she dies virgins only the worms will have sexual intercourse with her by eating her dead body. The narrator also suggests carnal intercourse to cure the difficulty and frustration of life as he said line 43-44 “And tear our pleasures with rough strife Through the iron gates of life” but also thinks that having a sexual relationship would be the way to eat the time, to control eat, to devour it as he said in the last two lines “Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.”
Hence, as for me a the readers it can be seen immoral at some point due to the striking images of the mistress being eaten by worms because of her long preserved virginity she refused to loose with his lover. Knowing that Andrew Marvell is from the 17th Century it is interesting to see that his poem was not following the puritan context of his time nor the ideology of his father who was a Church of England Clergyman.
Here we can conclude on a certain importance of the themes of love and lust, but it seems obvious to state that compared to the carpe diem ideal they do not have the same status. Particularly because love and lust are simply the excuse to approach the carpe diem subject and deliver a powerful plea of the epicurean philosophy and the epitome of the carpe diem ideal. This carpe diem work is more concerned with process of persuasion, and persuasion implies a use of the feeling that is the reason why the themes of love and lust were essential to this poem. Finally To His Coy Mistress is more about acting on the carpe diem ideal than it is about love and lust but this carpe diem work would not have been possible without the themes of love and lust being explored. It is the merging of the three themes that permits this striking work on the famous idea of the carpe diem.