They are 'To his coy mistress' by Andrew Marvell and 'Twickenham Garden' by John Donne. The metaphysical movement reacted against the pastoral poems of the 17th centur

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The two poems I am going to discuss are metaphysical poems by two metaphysical poets. They are ‘To his coy mistress’ by Andrew Marvell and ‘Twickenham Garden’ by John Donne. The metaphysical movement reacted against the pastoral poems of the 17th century. The poetry of Donne and Marvell uses modern images of the time to express ideas about ‘real’ and physical love as well as the spiritual side.

In this poem Andrew Marvell expresses his feelings about love and time by showing how he wants to make love physically with his mistress before time runs out or before they get too old.

At the beginning of the poem, lines 1-4 Andrew is saying that there is not enough time and he finds this shy lady indecisiveness annoying and irritating. Later on in the forthcoming lines he writes,

“Thou by the Indian Ganges side

Shoust rubies find, I by the tide

Of Humber would complain.”

In these lines he is comparing her in an exotic picture of being in India finding rubies and him by the river Humber. This also shows that if this happened he could accept it, as time does not apply to him. Also to travel to India would have taken years in the 17th century. Marvell would complain but he could put up with it because time would not need to be considered. This shows that he finds her really rich and important to be able to travel to India and he is left in Hull alone by the river. This is a good way to contrast between the two pictures.

In the following three lines he is implying that if he had infinite time they could love each other forever. He uses the exaggerations of time to create a bigger impact for a flattery effect. For example he compares the length of time with the conversion of the Jews. Jews will never take place therefore representing an immeasurable amount of time.

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In the following couple of lines he is metaphysically comparing his love for the lady as a ‘Vegetable love’. He is saying that his love is still growing stronger.

In lines 13-18 Andrew, has gone back to saying if he had an unlimited amount of time what he would do. He wants to spend the time gazing upon the lady, looking at various parts of her body. The poem also states the part of the body he is most interested in.

‘Two hundred to adore each breast

And the last age should show your heart’

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