On the other hand she is shy. We know this firstly from the title including ‘coy’ but also it says ‘and you should, if you please, refuse’ therefore we know she isn’t admitting she loves him.
It then goes back to the idea of the time ticking on as it starts saying about how ‘a hundred years should go to praise’ which shows they are getting older including their bodies. We know this because it says ‘two hundred to adore each Brest’
Andrew Marvel then writes about what she wants to hear, about how ‘would I love you at lower rate’. This however contrasts with the first idea that he doesn’t love her, therefore he is saying he wouldn’t lover any lower than she deserved, which is impossible because he doesn’t love her at all.
In the next part of the poem, Marvell changes his tone and becomes quite forceful. He says things to her to blackmail her emotionally. He is also saying ‘but at the back I always hear time’s winged chariot hurrying near’ which means he knows himself and what he is like therefore knows he doesn’t want her and that time is running out because ‘thy beauty shall no more be found’ therefore this gives us the idea that he is just using her as why would he be bothered about her getting old, when that’s what most people love. Therefore he is saying that when her beauty goes he will no find her attractive any more or love her anymore.
We can also relate that he is cold hearted as in the next line it says ‘marble’, which is a cold, hard material, which symbolises the way the man is. He is very hard faced as none of this seems to be bothering him, and he is very cold hearted. On the other hand the coldness could also symbolise how the woman will not tell him she loves him or her feelings towards him.
The final part of the poem is quite different. Here the poet says about ‘let us sport us while we may’, which could mean let us have sex while we can, which also is backed up by the next bit, ‘through the iron gates of life’, which is a metaphor for sexual intercourse. This also makes us think it is about lust rather than love because why would he be bothered so much about sex and beauty rather than valuing things like her shyness.
However is also says awfully ‘birds of prey’ which means the only thing that is going to benefit from your body is the worms and that the time to be shy is when you are dead. It also goes back to the point of lust when the word ‘amorous’ is included which means love, which must not be in the love context rather than the sexual context.
In Shakespeare’s poem it is simply about pure love. The one that makes you jealous, and longing that it was one included in the relationship. In this poem he says he loves her but doesn’t think she’s perfect.
He starts off by saying ‘mistress’ which indicates this isn’t his wife he is actually talking about. Then he starts picking faults with her beauty by saying ‘coral is far more red than her lips’ red’ which is saying that pink is fair more red, which must means she has pale lips.
Shakespeare then writes about her breast being ‘snow be white, why then her breast be dun’ which says she has breasts which are dark. However this also could be a bit of lust as breasts are usually a male attraction so why is he so bothered if her breasts are dark?
However the idea of the dark lady is tainted a bit when Shakespeare writes ‘no such roses I see in her cheeks’ therefore she has no colour in her cheeks and her breath also smells, whether it be good or bad we don’t know, as the word ‘reeks’ is used to describe her breath.
Not only that but he also says ‘I love to hear her speak’ however it follows on with ‘music hath a far more pleasing sound’, which means that he can’t stand to hear he voice but is contradicting itself as he also says he loves to hear her speak. This for me seems a bit confusing as if a voice gets on your nerves how can you simply bear to hear it over and over again.
He then sums up the poem by putting ‘and yet by heaven, I think my love is rare as any she belied with false compare’. Therefore he is summing up the poem saying he loves her for her and that is strong enough, so why should he lie?
In both poems similes and metaphors are used. Andrew Marvell uses them very frequently with things like ‘through the iron gates’ which is meaning for sexual intercourse, and a simile included is ‘like morning dew’, which means wet and settled.
In Sonnet 130 the uses of metaphors are rarely used, however there is one simile I could find which is ‘like the sun’ as it is saying his mistress’ eyes aren’t like the sun.
In both poems they rhyme, in to his Coy Mistress, it has a rhyming pattern of ab, whereas in Sonnet 130, it has a rhyming pattern of abab. Then after every quatrain the rhyming begins again.
The rhythm of the Sonnet 130 poem has 10 syllables per line in an ionic pentameter which the unstressed stressed pattern. This gives the poem rhythm and makes it flowing rather than in the To His Coy Mistress where it hasn’t really got a rhythm pattern, however the first couple of line do have only 8 syllables in each.
The structure of the poems are different In To His Coy Mistress is set out in three parts, one with twenty lines, one with twelve lines and the other with fourteen lines. Sonnet 130 is a sonnet therefore it has a build up then a conclusion. However it is a Shakespearian sonnet rather than a patriarch, as it has twelve lines of a build up then a conclusion of two lines saying he loves her. In a patrach there is eight lines build up and six lines conclusion.
The tone of each poem are different I think Andrew Marvell has made To His Coy Mistress forceful and dominant like a stereotypical man. This is due to him blackmailing the woman in the poem and saying awful things the only thing that would sacrifice from your body is the worms, and saying her beauty will no longer remain. This is in fact nothing a woman would like to hear.
On the other hand I think Sonnet 130 is in a quite relaxed tone as he firstly picks her faults but then concludes by saying these don’t matter and he loves her whatever.
To conclude all of this I preferred Sonnet 130 as I like the fact that maybe her voice gets on his nerves and her ‘eyes are nothing like the sun’ but he still loves her for what she is rather than just lust like in To His Coy Mistress, where basically all he is bothered about is sex and her beauty, not things like growing old together and valuing their time together. He also isn’t lying and he values all of her faults without saying you have this wrong and this wrong, and hating her for it. I feel this is better because it shows us how we would like our partner to be, as even though the faults are there, they are cherished and loved beyond all bad things. Even though Sonnet 130 seems a lot more negative, I feel that it is better as he isn’t lying like in To His Coy Mistress, and that is something we should bear in mind.
