His Coy Blog Entry

I should say here at the beginning, I've always had a soft spot for 'To His Coy Mistress'. I first learned to like the poem largely because of T.S. Eliot's 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock', which references Marvell's poem several different times. In fact, I think I referenced this poem in several of my own adolescent attempts at poetry. But all that's aside from the point, of course, which is to discuss the poem.

The theme at work here seems to be 'life is short, get as much as you can', which is not a terrible theme. One might even go so far (gasp!) as to suggest this is the moral of the poem. Marvell explains to his lover that, if only he had a thousand years or so, his love would grow like a great slow vegetable, and that he would spend a century or so on the praise of her eyes. (And, I'd like to add, two centuries for either of her breasts.)

But he does not have a thousand years, of course, and "[t]ime's winged chariot" is "hurrying near" (line 22), so they'd better get busy. After all, her body is going to be despoiled by worms eventually, and her "long preserved virginity" (line 28) ruined. In other words, they're going to die soon enough - so baby, why not have fun now?

Perhaps this makes the poem seem one leveled, or trite, or even in bad taste. It is, of course, none of these things. These are simply the very real concerns - concerns we all have - that Marvell has chosen to write about. He clothes these 'carpe diem' sentiments in beautiful writing: unforgettable phrases like "time's winged chariot" and the opening lines themselves. He chooses humor as a platform to prevent triteness, thus we get funny rhymes like "[a]nd you should, if you please, refuse/Till the conversion of the Jews" (lines 9-10). But Marvell ultimately achieves a beautiful poignancy through his humor, specifically in the lines: "The grave's a fine and private place,/But none, I think, do there embrace" (lines 31-32).

Pure brilliance.