This essay is a comparison between the following three love poems, 'To His Coy Mistress' by Andrew Marvell, 'I wanna be yours' by John Cooper Clarke and 'Our Love Now' by Martyn Lowery.

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DamiG®                                                                        2003

Literature Coursework

Poetry Analysis & Comparison

   This essay is a comparison between the following three love poems, ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell, ‘I wanna be yours’ by John Cooper Clarke and ‘Our Love Now’ by Martyn Lowery.

 All three of them are ‘love poems’ but not in the traditional sense. They are all concerned with a man attempting to persuade a woman.

   The first two poems, ‘To His Coy Mistress’ and ‘I wanna be yours’ do not show the woman’s side of the story or her opinion. The last poem ‘Our Love Now’ is of a different style as the woman completely expresses her feelings. I will go through each poem individually assessing its language, structure, imagery, tone and attitude. Then I will compare the three in a conclusion at the end.

   The title of ‘To His Coy Mistress’ tells us that Andrew Marvell is writing the poem to give it to his shy mistress; to tell her how he feels about her. He seduces his mistress by trying to persuade her to make love.

‘Let us sport while we may’

The language contains many metaphors and similes, for example:

Death – is ‘vast deserts of eternity’ (immeasurable years of nothing). Time – travels on a ‘winged chariot’ (passes quickly).

   In this poem, Marvell demonstrates considerable skill in his manipulation of language. The  on the 'w's in lines 3 and 4 slows the pace down and this is succeeded by the sensuous alliteration and  in the phrase

'Our long love's day'

In the third section of the poem, Marvell uses the word 'now' to insist on the immediacy of the need for action. He also creates suspense by delaying the verb in the sentence that begins 'Now, therefore...' (Line 33)

   ‘To His Coy Mistress’ is structured with a regular rhythm and rhyming couplets, reflecting a persistent development of an argument. Andrew begins his argument by seeming to acknowledge the woman's point of view, then arguing against it and finally dismissing it.

   The poem contains lots of imagery and symbolism. The poet starts by saying that if time were infinite he would be happy to use the time to worship her and wait. We can see this from these quotes:

‘Had we but world enough, and time’

‘We would sit down and think which way’

Join now!

‘I would love you ten years before the flood’

Then he moves on to say, that he is aware that time is not infinite and that as time passes, death is ever closer.

‘But at my back I always hear

Time’s winged chariot hurrying near;

And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast eternity.’

Finally he ends by saying that, therefore they should live for today and repeats the word ‘now’.

‘Now let us sport while we may,

And now like amorous birds of prey’

   The poem starts with the extreme use of hyperbole when he ...

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