“…Of artful falsehood and designing praise…”
She is expressing her view that the man has a talent but it is not wasted on her as her heart has already been broken by another man,”…Th’already plunder’d need no robber fear…” She is talking about her virginity being lost before him, and that he is only after her because she is ‘new’.
Gentle persuasion is used by both Lady Montagu and Marvell to try and push the man away (Lady Montagu) and to try and lure the woman to him (Marvell). In ‘An Answer to a Love Letter’ Lady Montagu uses the words:
“…Without one single charm, but being new…”
Here Lady Montagu is saying she has no charisma, no appeal to man about from being a virgin. She already knows he has a wife and a healthy fortune but he has not had her because he thinks she is new. This is not true as later in the poem she claims to have been used by a man before (see quotation above,”…Th’already plunder’d need no robber fear…”). In the same way, Marvell uses gentle persuasion, but to try and tempt the woman into being with him. He uses the argument:
“…Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime…”
What Marvell means by this is that she is an idealist. She would be off in search of rubies by the Ganges in India,”…Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Should’st rubies find…” while he would be moping around the side of the River Humber in damp, dreary England,”…I by the tide of the Humber would complain…”
In addition to the gentle persuasion and flattery, both poets use humour in their poem. Marvell uses a metaphor to symbolise his love for her:
“…My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow…”
He suggests that love is not always a rose bud, because some people do not find love and some people cannot express their love for someone else. Marvell implies that he will never love anyone else as much as he loves her. He is declaring that his love for her will grow from a ‘vegetable’ state to an immeasurable size. He also ensures her that his love will only get stronger with time, but every moment that they are apart, his heart grows ever fonder. Furthermore, he is using the idea that she will laugh at this unromantic image of love and give in to his desires. In a similar manner, ’ An Answer to a Love Letter’ also employs humour but not in an amiable way, but to criticise someone:
“…Why should poor pug (the mimic of your kind)
Wear a rough chain, and to box confin’d…”
Here, Lady Montagu tries to explain that why should dogs wear a coarse collar and chain while a man should be allowed to roam free, when man is just the same as a dog. However, the tone of the joke changes when she talks about the destroyer that is man:
“…While roves unpunish’d the destroyer, man…”
This makes the tone sad and full of anger as opposed to a light humoured comment.
Bullying is used by both Andrew Marvell and Lady Montagu to try and oppress the person to give in to their demands. In ‘To His Coy Mistress’ Marvell uses the idea that if he will not have her then no-one will have her:
“…Thy beauty shall no more be found…”
All Marvell is trying to express is the fact that when she is dead and nobody would have loved her the way he does now and that when she realises that she will be dead so she will be alone forever without him to comfort her. In the next three lines he is articulating that if no-one has her then her virginity shall be intact for ever:
“…Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing songs: then worms shall try
That longed-preserved virginity…”
In the first two lines of this quote Marvell is trying to put across the view that when he has had sex with her, no-one else will in her lifetime, then his ‘presence’ would still be in her and that if he does not have her then worms shall eat at her insides and her untouched body.
In complete contrast bullying in Lady Montagu’s poem ‘An Answer to a Love Letter’ bullying is used to scare her ‘lover’ away:
“…The passenger’s pale cheek and staring eyes:
But seiz’d by Justice, find a fright no jest,
And all the terror doubled in their breast…”
In this proclamation Lady Montagu is using the fact that highwayman were just coming into ‘force’ and everybody was scared of them to highlight the fact that when he is caught his terror will be doubled and he would not find it funny in anyway. Lady Montagu uses the idea of stupidity and deceit to arose the man into leaving her alone as he would probably feel that he was deceitful and stupid. When it states, ’And all the terror doubled in their breast’ she is implying that he has been with many other women and that his punishment would be that much harsher for his crimes.
Throughout ‘To His Coy Mistress’, Marvell uses the notion of logical argument. This carries through the poem but is most obvious when it states:
“…Now, therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew…”
Here it is appearing to use a similie to make the concept of youth like morning dew, it only lasts for a short period of time in the cycle of life. He is putting across the perception that they should enjoy it now while they are young and can afford to have fun.
In the same way as Marvell, Lady Montagu uses a logical argument but that breaks down with her anger increasing. She also subtly explains that someone else has had her:
“…Th’already plunder’d need no robber fear…”
This goes against everything that he wants from her deep down in the bottom of his heart, which he will not make a clean breast about.
In both poems the appealing and engaging language served as a constant reminder to when each poem was written but also as a subtle ploy to keep me interested in the poem. The way he describes his actions are particularly articulated and not very understated:
“…And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our Time devour..”
In this similie he describes that he would not make love to her easily but rough and ready as opposed to ‘smoothly’. He also makes this gesture as to claim that this would vent out his frustration and also satisfy his needs.
In ‘An Answer to a Love Letter’ Lady Montagu uses an oxymoron to talk about stealing and robbing:
“…And ask so boldly like a begging thief…”
This is quite a strange statement, as you cannot really have a begging thief. What Lady Montagu channels to us by this oxymoron is that a man asks and begs for it and then steals it away. If she says no, he will do it anyway.
Overall, I think that both poems are a really good insight into what sex was about and stood for in the 17th Century and the 18th Century and shows the powerful way in which writers can convey a sense of meaning and a deeper meaning even just scraping through the surface. In ‘To His Coy Mistress’ I quite like the way in which Marvell uses rhyming couplets to echo the passing of time and also represents two people. In addition, I like ‘An Answer to a Love Letter’, in the sense that it is all about stealing and thieves which is what a man is according to her. Personally I think that ‘To His Coy Mistress’ was a better poem as it uses more colourful language and has a more extensive vocabulary, and I also like the way in which it was written.
By Jamie Connolly
10Red
Mrs Lucas
Coursework
