Write about three or four poems from the 'Heart and Partners Section' to show the poets have presented men's and women's attitudes.

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Men and women often think and behave differently in relation to love.

Write about three or four poems from the ‘Heart and Partners Section’ to show the poets have presented men’s and women’s attitudes. You should think about:

  • The attitude of men/women in the poems
  • The way the poet shows these attitudes
  • Your responses to the poems

Men and women often think and behave very differently in relation to love. The poems in the Hearts and Partners’ section explore a number of different attitudes and show how the poets feel quite differently about relationships.

‘To His Coy Mistress’ written by Andrew M        arvell  in the 17th century concerns the poet’s attempts to persuade his shy mistress to sleep with him. As a politician and diplomat Marvell cleverly weaves his argument in favour of intense, passionate relationships and his condemnation of long, time consuming courtship. Although the poem was written three hundred years ago it still reflects  ideas held by many today that men’s thoughts often turn to lust whereas a woman is more concerned with love and commitment.

The poem may be divided into three sections; each section attempting to persuade the mistress that she should relent and give Marvell what he desires. The first section is very clever in emphasising that he does indeed love her and that,

 ‘had we but world enough and time,

this coyness lady were no crime’.

Marvell subtly suggests that if time were plentiful he would gladly spend time enjoying her company and, ‘ walk and pass love’s long day’. He states that his mistress should be flattered, ‘for lady you deserve this state’ and lulls his listener into believing that he is sincere in his declaration of love.

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The ‘But’ which marks the second section clearly show Marvell’s argument against spending time on what he regards as trivialities and a waste of youthful energy. The mythological image of ‘Time’s winged chariot hurrying near’ forces the reader to visualise the speed at which life passes. Death approaches and ‘deserts of vast eternity’ loom ahead; a depressing thought that is used to persuade the mistress that she should enjoy life to the full. His ideas turn more to lust than love as he intensifies his argument. The shocking image of the worms enjoying the lady’s virginity in the loneliness ...

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