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 had time, he would be prepared to spend thousands of years wooing her until her “the last age should show her heart.”. However, he later highlights the fact that this time is not available for his love to be expressed in this way.
The language in the second section of the argument becomes more threatening, by concentrating on the idea that time cannot be stopped, and death is drawing closer, so it is now that they must seize the day. There is no way of avoiding the passage of time.
“But at my back I always hear,
Time’s winged chariot hurrying near;”
This image emphasises the speed and movement of time; the chariot of time, which is a swift moving vehicle, has wings to make it move even faster.
Marvell then reminds his mistress of the “Deserts of vast eternity,” the everlasting life after death in which he will not be able to find her. That is a rather a depressing view; he is obviously using it as part of his persuasive argument that life and youth should not be wasted. He emphasises the fact that in death there is nothing that is of value now. Her beauty will have vanished (line 25) and his songs won’t be heard in her “marble vault” (line 26). The fact that she will be buried in a “marble vault” shows that she is a relatively wealthy person but what good will her wealth be to her? Here
Marvell also effectively contrasts the hyperbole used to describe time in the first section. Marvell clearly sees time as a vast thing stretching in front and behind them,, and it is simply this present moment in time that they have to make the most of. The description of the “Desert” emphasises the barren wasteland awaiting her if she does not give in to her emotions and desires.
This horrific image is continued, when Marvell writes
“then worms shall try,
That long preserved virginity,”
The implied comparison is between a worm and a penis and Marvell is forcing his mistress to think that what she fears will happen anyway but instead of being pleasurable, it will be the result of her corruption and death. This is an attempt at persuasion through fear.
The reference to ashes and dust,
“And your quaint honour turn to dust;
And into ashes all my lust.”
could be referring to the Christian burial service, in which there is a phrase indicating that in death a body returns to its beginning: ‘Ashes to ashes and dust to dust.’ This is a reference to the creation of the first people, Adam and Eve, whom God fashioned out of clay (dust). In other words, the Christian view is that we come from dust and will return to it. Marvell plays with this phrase ‘ashes to ashes and dust to dust’ in these lines. The lady’s honour will be ‘dust’ and the speaker’s lust will be ‘ashes’, he says. His point is that there is no love in the grave.
The language in the final section of the poem concentrates on persuading the coy mistress to seize the opportunity while she is still young to make love with him.
“thy willing soul transpires,
At every pore with instant fires,”
His persuasive argument, concentrates on the fact that she needs to give into her desire. Speaking of her ‘willing soul’, implies that she is really as interested in sex as he is. However in the 17th century, ‘willing’ could also mean full of ‘will’ or energy so that lines could simply mean ‘full of the energy of youth’
Marvell now proposes that,
“Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour
Than languish in his slow-chapped power.”
The word ‘sport’ doesn’t sound very serious to us but in the 17th century, its meaning was closer to ‘energetic exercise’. Marvell is using powerful language to cement his argument in this section of the poem; they should “devour” time, making use of every moment rather than letting time take the upper hand.
The image of the ball,
“Let us roll all our strength and all
our sweetness up into one ball”,
symbolises the unification of the two of them coming together- the ball contains all their strength and sweetness. This is echoed, when in the final couplet, Marvell expresses how they could outrun the sun together. The personification of the sun,
“Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.”
summarizes his argument. He is saying they cannot make time stand still but they can exercise some power over time by making time almost rush to catch up with them due to the speed of their action. In this way they are gaining the upper hand over time. This two lines shows how, when the sun is personified, it appears to be feasible to consider outrunning it, and also how, although the sun is the brightest object in our universe, together they can be brighter. Time can be made bend to their will, and once time is under their control, anything is possible.
There is a great difference between this portrayal of love in “To His Coy Mistress” and the way love is portrayed in “Valentine.” Carol Ann Duffy is writing from a radically different prospective. Not only is “Valentine” expressed from the point of view of a woman but one who is disillusioned with the commercialisation of love. Carol Ann Duffy also appears to put a lot of value on love, and unlike Marvell, does not just put emphasis on the physical side of love, but instead concentrates on love’s true meaning.
“Valentine,” essentially is not about giving an extraordinary present for Valentine’s Day but is really an exploration of love and relationships between two people. Unlike “To His Coy Mistress”, this poem could be from anyone to anyone as it does not indicate the gender of either “I” or “You.” The presentation of love is developed by using an extended metaphor, Duffy comparing her love and relationship to an onion, rejecting all the conventional trappings of Valentine’s Day which is shown in the syntax, “Not a red rose or a satin heart.”
Initially Duffy is saying that the love she offers has many layers which offers a joyful future:
“I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper
It promises light…”
However, Duffy also points out that true and passionate love can be painful and can “blind you with tears.” Thus she offers her lover an onion because like her love the onion can be beautiful like the moon, but yet can also cause grief.
Duffy emphasises that true love is difficult to forget and as with the smell and taste of an onion, a true relationship will remain firmly implanted in the mind of those implicated, long after the relationship has ended. She emphasises this in line 13:
“Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips”
and line 22:
“Its scent will cling to your fingers”.
Duffy also draws comparisons between the rings of an onion and a wedding ring: “Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding ring…”, suggesting that the longer a relationship goes on, the more serious it will become and could lead to the ultimate and final commitment of marriage. However, on the other hand, the word “shrink” gives a suggestion that as the relationship lengthens, it could become less valuable and marriage could in reality kill the relationship. The onion is the symbol of this great love and at the end of the poem, there is a suggestion that the partner may end the relationship as he cuts it with his knife. Again, there is this referral that the relationship will never be forgotten by those involved as the scent of the onion “will cling to your knife”.
The structure of Duffy’s poem is unusual in that the lines and stanzas are of irregular length. This could suggest that Duffy is trying to show that love cannot be ordered and regular. It also suggests that her thoughts are going directly onto the paper spontaneously, unshaped, giving a sense of urgency in conveying the meaning of the gift to her lover. Duffy’s message is one of personal and direct declaration of love to her lover. By using short lines to emphasise her emotional plea, you can almost here her voice as she offers the gift of love in the lines “Here”, and “Take it.” It also emphasises the fact that Duffy is laying aside all traditional symbols of love and does not wish to conform to a normal stereotype of writing traditional love poetry. Her love goes beyond the ordinary and so is more special than meaningless gestures.
Duffy structures lines 1 and 12 to put emphasis on the word “not”.
Line 1 - “Not a red rose or satin heart”
Line 12 – “Not a cute card or kissogram”
In both these cases, the word “not” is stressed because it appears first in the line. Duffy emphasises this point by using an identical structure in both lines and also by having these lines standing alone in the poem. This emphasis is important as it is reminding the reader that the poet puts no stock in the traditional gimmicks of love.
Duffy is very careful to reflect the message of the poem in her choice of words. The early stages of the poem, suggest positive aspects of her relationship. Such a phrase as “it promises light,” links her gift with their relationship which seems to be progressing. As the poem progresses, there is emphasis placed on the strength and power of the relationship when Duffy comments on the onion’s “fierce kiss”, which is as,
“possessive and faithful
as we are.”
However, she does not let her lover forget that even when you are in love, there is no escape from hurt. Love still brings blindness and “tears”. Although their relationship seems to be perfect, there is no escape from the inevitable.
After studying the way in which the two poets, Andrew Marvell and Carol Ann Duffy approached the topic of love, it would seem clear to me that the word “love”, can be used to cover a vast area of feelings and emotions for another person. In “To His Coy Mistress”, Andrew Marvell sets out to crush his mistress’s morals with his argument regarding Time. It could be said Marvell was not as concerned with the psychological side of love as he was with the physical side. On the other hand, in “Valentine”, Carol Ann Duffy sets out to cast aside any traditional connotations associated with love in order to implement her own meditations regarding the true values of love. In my opinion, Carol Ann Duffy appears to have a better grasp of understanding regarding the value of true love, as in order to have a good relationship, it is first necessary to understand the person as a separate entity and to realise that it is necessary to always look at things under a true light. When observed under artificial light, so many minor details can be missed which in the long term could prove fatal.