Aphra Behn’s humorous poem follows a narrative structure in which she uses a rhyming technique to draw the listener into the story and give it rhythm. The language and style used, as it progresses, enhances the lovers’ increasing passion and concludes with the memorable rhetorical question challenging the reader to ‘guess the rest’. In contrast, Marvell is a metaphysical poet who belonged to a group who were ‘well-known’ for writing complex poems with powerful metaphors and allusions. He takes the theme ‘carpe diem’ and applies this to his relationship with his mistress. Marvell was praised for his wit and clever intellectual argument. He keeps his syllables to 8 in his lines but when he wishes to make a memorable point urging her to seize the day, he increases the number of syllables to 12, an example of this is ‘But at my back I always hear, Time’s winged chariot hurrying near.’ Rhyming couplets are also included to give his poem a continuous flow.
Aphra Behn presents seduction in ‘To His Willing Mistress’ by using nature to reflect the two lovers’ passion. The ‘grove’ in which the amorous lovers go is secretive and secluded it is away from human eyes and portrays seduction as being private. The female persona represents many women’s feelings in that time as he fears being seen with Amyntas and if she is what they will speculate about her. Behn uses personification such as ‘the wind kisses the yielding boughs’ to mirror the lovers’ actions and increasing passion. As the branches ‘give way’ she fears they maybe seen, causing insecurity. The bough represents the woman, as Amyntas kisses her she ‘yields’ to him. She uses euphemism, which suggests to the reader the playful and innocent nature of to ‘play upon the moss’. Senses of uncertainty are exposed, again, when she states, ‘The sun itself, though it had strove, it could not have betrayed us’. The winds are also mentioned as trying to reveal them when they ‘kiss the yielding boughs’. ‘The heat of al the day’ intensifies the lovers’ passion. ‘His charming eyes’ tells the reader that the female persona has left all insecurities behind her and she has become wholly seduced by him. Her willingness to be ‘led’ by him tells us their relationship is trusting. A partner leading another in this way suggests the reciprocal nature of the relationship. Behn expresses a woman’s willingness to be seduced but fails to tell us the explicit details, which proves playful.
Marvell emphasises his point in the first section of ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by using sentences containing long vowels to slow the pace of the poem and emphasise how long he would wait for her. ‘Long love’s day’ is a good example as it uses both assonance and alliteration to make the phrase last forever, like his love. ‘Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side, Should’st rubies find’ reference to jewels connotes how precious she is to him. He furthers his point and implies he would wait ‘by the tide of Humber’ for her, meaning he’ll stay in the most mundane of locations to await her pleasant return. However, this is manipulative and reminds us he has written this as a way to seduce her. Marvell uses hyperbole to flatter his mistress, he claims, ‘Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest’ meaning he loves her and not her body, which deters her from thinking of sex as his objective. Claim of ‘vegetable love growing’ produces phallic imagery and reveals his lust.
In the second section of the poem, he tries to convince his mistress that their time is running out for them to consummate their love. To achieve this the tone of the poem is changed by a conjunction, ‘But’, he becomes menacing. ‘Time’s winged chariot hurrying near’ is not only emphasised by a slight change in pace, which highlights how slowly he would seduce her but suggests time is predatory and is something to be feared. ‘Winged chariot’ is war-like and as it ‘hurries near’ he suggests the urgency of seduction. This one line is his main focus and emphasises ‘carpe diem’. Marvell wants to seduce his mistress and by using ‘time’s winged chariot hurrying near’ he makes time seem powerful and destructive. ‘Like amorous birds of prey’ compares the lovers to birds of prey, which has sinister undertones of violence, for example, their passion may consume them. ‘Deserts of vast eternity’ promotes a desolate and bleak image, which is a powerful metaphor for death and reminds his mistress when she is dead seduction will be lost and she’ll be alone. Marvell’s tone becomes sarcastic and mocking as he claims ‘and your quaint honour turn to dust’ meaning her honour isn’t worth preserving is she doesn’t take such a passionate opportunity. The words ‘dust’ and ‘ashes’ used in the line, ‘And into the ashes lay my lust’ are associated with the burial service in the Common Book of Prayers. It is a subtle reminder to his mistress that they are still mortal but not for long, therefore urging her to seize the day.
In the final section of the poem, Marvell tries to persuade his mistress, yet again, to seize the day. He uses a simile to convey the transient nature of youth, he claims her beauty is like a beautiful ‘morning dew’ that will soon evaporate her appearance and she will appear no longer sexually attractive. Whilst she is young and beautiful, passion burns within her like ‘instant fires’. He wants them to consummate their love and savour her ‘fleeting youth’. The metaphorical description ‘iron gates of life’ tells us that life is hard and full of though restrictions that ought to be and can be broken by them. ‘Iron gates of life’ describes boundaries as barbaric. The way in which he wishes to break such a strong boundary with just their love for each other represents his confidence at the success of his words.
I preferred ‘To His Coy Mistress’ to ‘The Willing Mistress’ because it had hidden depths and meanings. I liked the way in which the poetic techniques were used to produce such a powerful effect. I also like the way in which the tone changes so often to portray his point. I did like ‘The Willing Mistress’ because it is playful and humorous but it is only a simple story and not a cryptic piece of poetry.
