Marvell quickly changes the poem’s mood from one of humour to one that is a lot more serious. The tone becomes one that is anxious, and intense. He does this by the effective, sharp use of the conjunction ‘but’ – “But at my back I always hear”. He then brings up the issue of death and he forms some morbid images in the reader’s mind – “then worms shall try, that long-preserved virginity”. Also, he Marvell says that her virginity will “turn to dust”. In other words, he is saying what a waste of time it is, holding her “quaint honour”. This helps to convince his mistress and the reader that coyness is folly; playing games is a waste of time. In this middle section of the poem, Marvell shows that he is an unbeliever of God. “Deserts of vast eternity” – this suggests that he believes there is no heaven or after-life. There is just death. These images he forms are meant to convince the mistress that in the end, coyness is a complete waste of time and there is no reason why she should not have sex now.
Marvell presents a very clear argument. He has achieved this by organising the poem into three sections: the introduction (where he is ridiculing his mistress’ ideas; the ‘opposing’ side, as a politician would do), the conviction section (where he is expressing his firm belief/opinion and trying to convince the opposing side, the mistress), and the conclusion (where he tells us what to do about it: have sex now!). A lot of Marvell’s political background seeps out of this poem, through the way he has structured his argument and been assertive by using connectives – “Now, therefore while the youthful hue”.
There are a lot of references to time in this poem – “Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side, Should’st rubies find”. It takes a lifetime to find rubies (infinite time), and Marvell is saying that is what it is like, waiting for sex. He uses the metaphor, “Time’s winged chariot hurrying near”. In the literal sense this means that time is catching up on them both. Marvell is saying that he and his mistress don’t have enough time together to play games, so let’s have sex now!
He also makes references to the sun in “To His Coy Mistress”. For example, “we cannot make our sun, Stand still, yet we will make him run”. Marvell is saying that because they can’t make time ‘stop’, they might as well make it go quickly, by enjoying themselves. The obvious solution to this is to have sex now! He keeps suggesting this same answer, solution, to back up the argument he is making.
In the last section of the poem (the ‘conclusion’), the tone changes once again, to one of excitement and jubilation. He compares his mistress’ skin to “morning dew”, i.e. it is fresh and soft. He compares himself and his mistress to “amorous birds of prey” – they will ravage each other and time, “Rather at once our time devour”. This section is very positive and persuasive, in contrast to the first two sections that were somewhat wishful and morbid – altogether negative.
Despite this argument Marvell is making, I do not think he is being sexist in this poem. Some women would say that he is being a ‘typical man’, that is only interested in sex. However, he backs up his argument effectively and with good reason. He doesn’t portray women as being inferior in any way; he is merely stating that acting coyly is a big waste of precious time.
Marvell uses many exaggerations in the poem. The biggest one being is that he says he would spend two hundred years to “adore each breast” and “thirty thousand” to the rest. This emphasises the coyness of the lady concerned, therefore ridiculing her further. People would think that spending two hundred years on one breast is ridiculous, but it is Marvell’s way of saying ‘that’s what it’s like, waiting for sex’. He is being sarcastic. He is also uses metaphors hyperbolically (a hyperbole is an exaggerated statement, not meant to be taken literally) such as “Till the conversion of the Jews”, i.e. until the last moment.
However, I do not think Marvell exaggerates what he actually feels. He is presenting an argument, like a politician, and does not show his feelings to great extent. We only learn that he feels that coyness frustrates him. He wants to have sex with the mistress now and he is tired of her playing games.
Another element Marvell has integrated into the poem is rhythmic form. The lines rhyme in couplets (it’s rhyme scheme) in iambic pentameters. The rhythm of the poem changes at lines 21 and 45, by the use of the connectives “But” and “And”. On both occurrences the pace of the poem speeds up. I find this extremely clever because Marvell is emphasising the fact that he wants to speed up time, but also this makes it similar to sex in that it becomes orgasmic towards the end. I think the cleverest rhyme in the poem is “eternity” with “virginity”. These words are 4 lines apart and are effective when the middle section quickens in pace.
I enjoyed this poem as it presented a good argument and some clear feelings. Marvell has been honest about his opinion on sex and religion, and has succeeded in persuading me that there is little time to waste, so why play games?