With close reference to the two poems which you have studied, show how the poets have approached the theme of romantic love.

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Harvey Allen 5P

With close reference to the two poems which you have studied, show how the poets have approached the theme of romantic love.

In your response, you should refer to:

  1. The poets’ use of language, style and imagery.
  2. Your personal response.

For this assignment, I have chosen to analyse two contrasting poems.  The first poem is “To His Coy Mistress” which was written in1650 by the English poet Andrew Marvell, and it is surprising how modern the subject matter is.  This poem uses language to persuade the poet’s mistress into shedding her coyness.  The second poem, “Valentine” by the contemporary poet Carol Ann Duffy sets out to show how the poet casts aside the traditional artificial values of love, to place instead her own truthful picture of love.

To His Coy Mistress” is a classic seductive poem, a carpe diem poem, in which the poet expresses his sadness at the thought of time swiftly passing by and the brevity of love. It comes across as a private meditation, giving a persuasive argument to his mistress, relating to the passage of time and the fading of earthly joys.

In the first part of the poem, Marvell presents us with images of time and space.  He tells his mistress what they could achieve in their relationship if they had sufficient time.

        “Had we but world enough, and time,

        This coyness Lady, were no crime.”        

Marvell uses the word “crime”, in order to suggest that her refusal of him amounted to a crime.  He does this in order to make her feel a bit guilty or foolish because she is refusing him.  This is the first indication of his persuasive and selfish argument.

Marvell continues by suggesting that if they did have all the time in the world on their hands, his lady could even walk by the River Ganges, a river in India, where she could amuse herself by finding rubies while he would remain by the river Humber.

“We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love’s day.

Thou by the Indian Ganges’ side 

Should’st rubies find: I by the tide 

Of Humber would complain.”

India was thought to be very exotic, and the people of Marvell’s time were fascinated by the idea of the precious stones and metals brought to England from the East.    However, there is a more cynical overtone to this. It was imagined in the seventeenth century that rubies could assist in preserving virginity.  Here Marvell is suggesting that if the pair did have all the time in the world, she could afford to keep her virginity as long as she chose.  If she did choose to remain a virgin, the speaker would have time to sit by the River Humber and sing songs about unrequited love. The river Humber runs through Hull, the city of Marvell’s birth, so he gives himself a fairly unromantic setting and allows the lady an exotic, beautiful one, which is meant to be a persuasive compliment.

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This theme is continued in Marvell’s words,

        “I would 

Love you ten years before the flood: 

And you should, if you please, refuse,

Till the conversion of the Jews.”

Effectively, what Marvell is saying here, is that his love is so strong, that even if she refused him for all of time, from the beginning until the end of the world as it is now, his love for her could not be damaged.

Marvell also uses hyperbole in order to persuade his mistress to accept him.  In line lines 11-18, he tries to emphasise that if he ...

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Here's what a teacher thought of this essay

A well articulated essay demonstrating excellent knowledge and understanding of the poems. A clearly structured analysis is consistently employed (Point, Evidence, Analysis) and some interesting and relevant contextual references are included. To improve, the writer might like to make more focused references to the question to ensure the essay does not read like a chronological analysis with no argument/focus. Although not a comparative essay ('compare' is not in the question) another more sophisticated approach might have been to integrate the analysis of the two poems throughout. Some attention could also have been paid to Marvell's use of structure. Overall, a very good essay. ****