Thine eyes…an age at least to every part,” but he knows he does not have this time, and so must get on with things. He also talks of “time’s winged chariot hurrying near;” showing that he is afraid of not making the most of his time on earth before he dies.
Little T.C. also shows the narrator’s fear of the children dying young. He wishes “That violets may a longer age endure” and that T.C. can live to become the woman he imagines “spare the buds
Lest Flora angry at thy crime…Nip in the blossom all our hopes and thee.”
In “The Sun Rising”, Donne blames the sun for keeping time, and wishes that lovers did not only have the limited time of life. “Must to thy motions lover’s seasons run?”
This preoccupation with time causes many of the poems to use comparisons with the sun, which, in a way, creates time. In “His Coy Mistress”, he talks of “Time’s winged chariot drawing near”. In Greek mythology, Helios drove a winged chariot across the sky, pulling the sun behind him. Marvell also says “although we cannot make the sun stand still, yet we will make him run.” Suggesting that although you cannot stop time, you can fill your life with as much enjoyment as possible.
In “Sun Rising”, Donne tries another approach, by arguing the sum to make it stand still. “Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;” He also argues that the sun is not so powerful to keep time “Thy beams so reverend and strong
Why should’st thou think?
I could eclipse them… with a wink,” He asks why the sun must keep time “ Busy old fool, unruly sun, Why dost thou thus,
Through windows and through curtains call on us?”
The sun was also seen as a symbol of power and beauty. In “The Fair Singer” he falls in love with her because “she having gained both wind and sun” showing that she has both beauty in song, the “wind” and beauty to look at the “sun”.
The idea of death, seen in many of these poems also reflects the amount of death in the world at the time. In “His Coy Mistress” he tells his love “thy beauty shall no more be found” when they are both dead, so she must sleep with him now, for he knows that disease and other horrors took life every day.
In “Little T.C.” he expresses his concerns that the gods do not “nip in the blossom all our hopes and thee”, because he knows that many children die, just as T.C.’s older sister did, while she was still an infant.
Military images are also very common. In “The Fair Singer” he speaks of his love for her as her “conquest” and she’s the “enemy”. “Fighting in some plain, where victory might hang in equal choice” makes it seem as though he can do nothing but love her. “Little T.C. also gives military comparisons. “The wanton love one day shall fear… under her command severe” shows that one day she will be like the commander of the army; able to call the shots and make the men who fall in love with her do whatever she wants.” He also talks of her “conquering eyes” which suggests that women’s’ beauty can conquer a man’s love.
In a contrast, religious imagery is also used. In “His Coy Mistress” he says he would “love you ten years before the flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.” This shows that people had good knowledge of the scriptures and were still very religious. This is also shown in “Fair Singer” when he says “my disentangled soul itself might save” as though loving her is wrong and evil. However, in T.C., he talks of pagan gods, instead of Christian belief. He calls her “darling of the gods” instead of the one Lord whom Christians believe in, and refers to “flora” the flower goddess. In this poem, the narrator also tries to go against the laws of religion and nature by trying to create a private world for this child. He makes her a goddess who can dictate what the world is like and controls everything. “Every verdant thing
Itself does at thy beauty charm.” And “reform the errors of the spring” because he feels she can set everything in her world right, if she’ll only continue living. “Sun Rising” also attempts to create a private world “She is all states, and all princes, I
Nothing else is.” This is because he feels nothing else matters but their love. He therefore tells the sun that “To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.” Because they feel they have their own private world.
This poem then goes on to use other geographical images “Th’ Indias of Spice and Myne….lie here with me” showing that this far away exotic place will even come to him. India also seemed further away because boat was still the only means of transport for getting there, which took a long while. “The Fair Singer” also uses geographical images. He says that fighting “in some plain” would be easier to win, although it is far away and unusual and hard to adjust, than to stop himself falling in love. In “His Coy Mistress” he places her “by Indian Ganges’ side…I by the tide
Of Humber would complain.” As though he’s flattering her by placing her somewhere exotic, while he would remain in boring England.
Animals are also used as comparisons. In “The Sun”, “Call country ants” shows that he feels everyone is insignificant compared to him and his lover. In “Coy Mistress”, he says “like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour.” To make them seem majestic and powerful by swooping through and enjoying life. He also uses animal comparisons to scare her. When she’s dead “Worms shall try that long-preserved virginity”, as worms are seen as slimy and dirty and make you cringe.
This is not the only shocking comparison in these poems. In “Little T.C.”, when he says “every verdant thing
Itself does at thy beauty charm” it’s like suggesting that this little girl is like a god, which is almost blasphemy. In “The Sun Rising” he calls the sun “unruly”, which is exactly the opposite of the sun, because it is very regular. He also calls the sun to “shine here to us” as though he has the power to change the whole way the world runs.
In a couple of the poems, the writer is watching the woman from a distance. In “Little T.C.” he says “see with what simplicity
This nymph begins her golden days!” showing that he is talking about, not to her. He also says “let me be laid,
Where I can see thy glories from some shade.” This says that he knows she will grow up to be a fine young woman, but he does not want to get in her way because he knows that men will just fall at her feet. We also see that in “The Fair Singer”, the woman is watched from afar from the way he does not talk directly to her. “Who has the advantage both of eyes and voice”. This shows that men were not in a position to go and introduce themselves to women, nor tell them how they felt.
So, through a number of ways, these poems reflect a lot of opinions of society in the seventeenth century, especially male ideas towards women. From them we realise that women were still seen as the gentler sex, yet they were also gaining rights and respect. Men found them intriguing, and were even a little scared of them. It also shows the amount of death at the time, and how people really felt always oppressed by time, and the wish that there was no danger of it ending.