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Question: A question about the structure of "To His Coy Mistress"!.!?
Look at the three-stanza structure of the poem and the initial terms of each stanza: "Had"!.!.!.!. "But"!.!.!.!.!. "Now"!.!.!. Why does the persona structure his argument in this way!?
I thought maybe he was suggesting past, present, and future of how he has felt for her in each stanza!. Stanza one would be how he thought about her when first acquainted, stanza two would be his current thought, and stanza three would be his plan to sex her up in the future!. Am I on to something or totally off base!. Thanks!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
You're close but you're making it more complicated than necessary!. Time is important, crucial even - because it's going to run out! He's not interested in the past or the future - he wants to sex her up NOW!
The entire poem is about living in the present - "carpe diem," seizing the day!. The speaker is trying to convince his mistress that, since life is short and time is quickly running out, she should sleep with him now!. Of course, women are supposed to play hard to get and make the guy work for it!. Of course, if he had all eternity, he could take his sweet time seducing her!.!.!. but they don't, so she should give it up or miss out forever!.
This poem is not about love - it's about seduction!. This was a very common theme for the Cavalier branch of poetry, of which Marvell was a part!.
This is one way of describing the structure:
First stanza - Ideal situation!. If we could live forever and be young and beautiful, we could take our time - walk along the river, gather rubies, etc!. Wouldn't that be nice!? Seriously, you're really hot and deserve a lot of attention, which I would love to give you!.
Second stanza - Conflict!. Life is short!. We're going to get old and you're going to lose your beauty!. Then it won't matter that you saved yourself because no one will want you!.
Third stanza - Resolution!. Time is running out!. Let's live now while we're young and you're still really beautiful!. We can't stop time, but we sure can take advantage of what we have!.
He's following a logical progression to convince her that his solution - sleep with me now! - is the best one, given the circumstances!.Www@QuestionHome@Com
I read the entire poem and it seems to me that he means that they're in love and want time together, but time is running out, so they need to be in love while their short time together lasts!.
And then I found this on the internet: "Written in the point of view of a gentleman, who is trying to persuade a woman to engage in sexual intercourse with him, although she is allegedly acting coy!. He attempts to convince her that time is running out and they must seize the day (Carpe Diem a general translation)!. Its three sections are presented as if a logical argument: if!.!.!. but!.!.!. therefore!."Www@QuestionHome@Com
In the first stanza the conditional ('We would sit down!.!.!.', 'Shouldst rubies find!.!.!.', 'And you should, if you please, refuse!.!.!.') is used consistently and it is all a projection!. It's an 'if'!. It says a load of great things that could happen but then!.!.!.
The second stanza introduces the fact that it isn't necessarily possible!. Time is catching them up and the 'But' shows that this is the stanza which will add conflict to the possibilities of stanza one!.
The third then introduces a resolution!.!.!.'Now'!. It brings us into the present, the immediate and thus it's no longer a whimsical idea or a depressing rejection of that idea!. It's a solution to the conflict!. He even repeats it 'Now let us sport us while we may!.!.!.'!.
I'm not sure about the time thing!. It made me think but to be honest I think that it's pushing it to assign the stanzas a past, present and future title!. I think it's more about a persuasive argument!. Ideal situation - conflict - resolution!. It gives the feeling that he has gone from good to bad to good again and it presents his conclusion as a return to the ideal situation!. It is an 'if' ('had' is really the same word as 'if' here) - if things were perfect, blahblah, 'but' - they are not unfortunately, 'therefore' (i!.e!. 'now') - we'll have to do this instead - argument!.Www@QuestionHome@Com