‘To His Coy Mistress’ describes the nature of love as being for praising but only for a limited time, this is shown in “But thirty thousand to the rest”. It also says that love makes life fun, passionate and fiery. Love being fiery and passionate is described by, “into ashes all my lust”. It also says that consummating their relationship is more fun than abstaining. “Amorous birds of prey” and “tear our pleasures” both show that Marvell and his lady should go straight into it and not waste any time as at that age they are most likely to enjoy it the most because mortality is inevitable. “For lady you deserve this state”, takes the poem back to flattery and it is telling his mistress that she deserves everything he has to offer. The double entendre of “vegetable love should grow” adds a bit of humour to the poem but also shows that love is natural, organic and growing.
The nature of love described in ‘Shall I Compare Thee’ says that love is eternal.” But thy eternall Sommer shall not fade, Nor loose possession of that faire thou ow’st,” shows that Shakespeare is saying love will last for eternity and his loved one will not lose her beauty, she also will have eternal beauty. There is also an elevation of love in three parts. The elevation of love is Shakespeare saying his loved one is beyond summer and life; she becomes a piece of poetry and lasts forever. His loved one is better than life and death. Finally he says that his lady is his inspiration or ‘muse’.
The nature of love described in ‘Let Me Not’ says that love does not change in time, “edge of doome” showing love until the end of time and that other circumstances around it does not effect love, “alteration”. It also says that love is about personality because it says, “the marriage of true mindes”, meaning the coming together of two smart and honest people. Love is about each other’s company, and that love shouldn’t be wasted but appreciated. This is shown when Shakespeare says, “Lov’s not Times foole”, it is not something to be wasted. It says that love is a guide through life; it is compared with a “wandring barke”. The poem says that love is strong even when it is hard to love. The line, “I never writ, nor no man ever loved” shows that love is inspirational because it inspired to poet to write about his beloved and the feelings he has for love.
The nature of love presented in ‘The Flea’ is that there is no honour lost when losing virginity. This is shown in, “A sin, nor shame, nor loss of maidenhead”. Donne is saying that in a way he has already done it with his mistress because the flea has mixed both their blood together. “And in this flea, our two bloods mingled be”, is telling his mistress that they have already consummated their relationship and there was nothing wrong with doing that. It also says that love is religious by using words such as, “sin” and “sacrilege”. Love is described using a conceit and the conceit is the blood being mixed inside the flea. The conceit is very effective because it is so unusual yet at the same time extremely persuasive.
The outside influences that effect love described in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ are time, religion and death. The line “Time’s winged chariot hurrying near” is effective because time is even faster with ‘wings’ and it is the epitome of speed. Time is also personified in this quote which makes it seem more realistic. The effect of religion is described in, “Love you ten years before the Flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of Jews.” This is a hyperbole as it is unlikely to happen. This biblical metaphor is also gently satirical because Marvell uses an expression of time saying that his love has lasted forever and will last forever, the passage of time is unlikely. Even when Marvell describes death, he still makes it precious. The line, “And yonder before us lie Deserts of vast eternity” is a reminder of mortality and the phrase, “marble vault”, makes it cold, expensive and treasured.
The outside influences affecting love described in ‘Shall I Compare Thee’ are death and religion.” Nor shall death brag”, is the influence of death. “Eye of heaven”, is the influence of religion, it is also a metaphor and personification of the sun. This poem is different to the others because it says that time does not affect their love because ‘she’ will live on forever, as long as people can see and read she will be alive. This is shown in the conclusion when it says, “So long as men can breath or eyes can see, So long lives this and this gives life to thee”.
The outside influences which have an effect on love described in ‘Let Me Not’ again says that time and death influence their love. The influence of death is described in, “edge of doome”; it describes it to the end of the world. The line, “Lov’s not Times foole” shows the influence of time on their love because the time for loving shouldn’t be wasted but used to the full. It also says that other people have an influence on their love and this is shown in the “remover to remove” because other people can alter the state of their loving. Basically everything, can affect their love, one word, which describes this, is, “impediment”.
The outside influences which have an effect on love described in ‘The Flea’ talks about religion and the Elizabethan science about the flea. Religion is used throughout the second stanza in phrases such as, “Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is”, “And cloistered”, and, “And sacrilege, three sins in killing three”. The religious significance is effective because it describes having sex as being religious. It also says parents’ influence their love when Donne says, “Though parents grudge”. It even says she herself affects their love because she’s not sure whether to consummate their relationship or not and then she ignores him which could definitely have an effect on their relationship..
The form of ‘Shall I Compare Thee’ is a Sonnet: it has three quatrains with a rhyming couplet at the end, ten syllables to a line, and an ‘ABAB’ structure and rhyme scheme. The poem is written in iambic pentameter, which gives the poem natural speech, makes it sound elevated, and makes the poem lyrical. The poem uses many connective words such as, “Thou”, “But”, “Thus”, and ‘Let Me Not’ has archaic spelling. ‘Shall I Compare Thee’s’ first quatrain is a question and answer and the theme is that Shakespeare’s beloved is more wonderful and “temperate”, than summer. The second quatrain is a comparison between the loved one (reasoning) and the theme is that it is describing the problems with summer. The third quatrain is the main point of the argument and Shakespeare is changing his argument because he uses the word “But”, and the theme is that his beloved will last forever. The rhyming couplet at the end is his conclusion and justification.
The form of ‘Let Me Not’ is a Sonnet like ‘Shall I Compare Thee’: it has three quatrains with a rhyming couplet at the end, ten syllables to a line, and an ‘ABAB’ structure and rhyme scheme. The poem is written in iambic pentameter, which gives the poem natural speech, makes it sound elevated, and makes the poem lyrical. The first quatrain of ‘Let Me Not’ is the subject matter. The second quatrain is the extended metaphor about navigation, as shown in, “wandring barke”. The third quatrain is personification of love with time and youth, this is shown in, “Lov’s not Times foole, though rosie lips and cheeks”. The rhyming couplet at the end is an argumentative conclusion basically saying that if Shakespeare was wrong about he felt on the subject of love, he would have never written the poem.
‘To His Coy Mistress’ is satirical, it uses irony and humour to express a point of view, Marvell uses biblical references to achieve this. It is a syllogistic argument; it has three stanzas, (two premises and one conclusion). The first premise is the universal truth, the second premise is minor and development and finally the conclusion is the rhyming couplet at the end. The whole poem is written in rhyming couplets. It is a type of parody when it uses humour, sexual innuendos and double entendres. This poem also has connective words, which build up pace, the pace, and language in the last stanza is intended to ease his mistress. It is rounding off the argument and finishing off his final thoughts of what he thinks he and his Lady should do. The poem is logical so it makes it easier to understand where his argument is taking us; it takes us through in steps.
The form of ‘The Flea’ is that there are three stanzas where the last three lines of the poem is the conclusion. It is syllogistic and the dialect is in the present tense, normal speech, like a conversation and the urgency is increasing as the poem progresses. The speed builds up in the poem which also makes it seem as Donne and his mistress are running out of time and they should consummate their relationship. The other reason for the pace building up could be because it is taking the poem to the turning point, when Donne’s beloved kills the flea. It has a discursive marker, “mark but this” and this is effective because it catches the readers’ attention.
The language and techniques used in ‘To His Coy Mistress’ are persuasive. The poem is formed logically producing a satirical and syllogistic argument .It uses phallic imagery as shown in “worms shall try That long preserved virginity.” Many innuendos and double entendres are used; one example is “My vegetable love should grow”. It is figurative and many similes and metaphors are used through out the poem. It is written in a polite yet forceful tone. “If you please” shows Marvell is being polite and “Now let us sport us while we may” shows Marvell being forceful. There is a crescendo in the list of pairs, it is rhetoric, and hyperboles are used. There is exotic imagery, “Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side Shouldst rubies find,” this also makes the poem sophisticated because it shows Marvell is good at geography. There is the personification of death and time in “slow-chapt power”. Persuasive speech is used throughout the poem to make his argument more effective. Alliteration is used in “long love’s day” and it is effective because it makes the day seem longer which I think is exactly what Marvell wants. Puns are used for humour and there is juxtaposition when the second stanza is compared with the third stanza.
The techniques and language used in ‘Shall I Compare Thee’ are rhetoric. The opening line “shall I compare thee?” is a rhetorical question straight away. There is figurative speech when Shakespeare says, “So long lives this and this gives life to thee” because it is not possible for his mistress to live on forever, death will take her at some point. Comparisons are made of love and summer throughout the poem. There is personification making it realistic. Personification is shown in, “eye of heaven shines” and, “Nor shall death brag”, it makes death seem like a person and realistic. Metaphors and similes are used. There are discursive markers such as colons, it is unusual to find colons in a poem but it makes the poem unique. It is logical so Shakespeare’s loved one can’t be denied. Puns are used. The pun, “When in eternall lines to time thou grow’st”, is effective because it is describing wrinkles on his loved one’s face. The poem is also omnipotent because it is all-powerful and created; this is shown in the phrase, “gives life to thee” as the poem creates her life.
The language and techniques used in ‘The Flea’ are religious metaphors being the main ones such as, “purpled thy nail” which is a sinister colour from the church, giving the poem a dark and cruel tone. The other religious comparison is, “three sins in killing three” which it the father, son and holy ghost. It is argumentative and the clever subject Donne has chosen makes the poem very persuasive. It is written in the present tense which is different to the other poems. Donne says that killing the flea is killing three lives because it contains the blood of him and his mistress, so she shouldn’t kill the flea. Donne rationalises his argument in the third and final stanza because he says that killing the flea is just as bad as losing your honour, and still his mistress ignores him. The extra effective touch Donne added to his poem was to use the blood in the flea as a conceit to describe the love of him and his mistress.
The techniques and language used in ‘Let Me Not’ are very effective. The title itself, ‘Let Me Not’, is an imperative which gives the poem an argumentative edge. The rhyming couplet at the end has assonance and is a summary of the argument. There are hyperboles such as, “tempests never shaken”, and this is because it is nearly impossible for anything not to shake during a storm and that’s why it produces a good effect on Shakespeare’s love argument. A superlative, “edge of doome” is used because it is saying his love is real until the very last moment, the end of the world. There is an extended metaphor of love and personification with a negative construction in, “Lov’s not Times foole. The poem contains a colon which no other poems have. The argument is sophisticated and the last line cancels out the logic and also adds in a touch of wordmanship, it says that he is a fantastic writer.
All four of the poems are very persuasive and are written effectively by the poets’ techniques. ‘Shall I Compare Thee’ and ‘Let Me Not’ are both romantic and flatter the lady Shakespeare is writing for. Both the sonnets make Shakespeare’s loved one seem extremely special and Shakespeare does it convincingly. ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is humorous in places and maintains the politeness throughout the poem. ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is also very persuasive and Marvell convinces his beloved to consummate their relationship. ‘The Flea’ is effective because a flea is so insignificant but the way the poet describes it makes it seem so important. All of the poems are very similar and definitely have many similarities between them, the main one is obviously love but they all talk about death being the main outside influence on their love.