To His Coy Mistress Metaphors

Metaphysical poetry is known to make its audience question the unquestionable and challenge the normality of the physical world. The poem, “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell, is about a man trying to convince a mistress to sleep with him through a series of argumentative points. This poem focuses on the concept of carpe diem and shows this theme using metaphysical elements including the conceit of time and hyperbolic metaphors. The metaphysical conceit of time juxtaposes the significance of this poem’s theme. The poem includes the unthinkable comparison of sex and time to hint the concept of carpe diem. The speaker tells the mistress that his “vegetable love should grow / Vaster than empires and more slow.” (Marvell Lines 11-12) This

Marvell uses hyperboles of time to show the audience the mistress’s effort in playing hard to get. The speaker compares the amount of time he would have loved her to biblical allusions to underline the strength of his passion for her. He tells the mistress he would "Love you [her] ten years before the Flood / And you should, if you please, refuse / till the conversion of the Jews.” (Lines 8-10) This hyperbole strengthens the conceit of time by alluding to the extensive biblical timeline. Comparing the end of Christianity to one’s love makes the audience think about the strength and ironic purity of what the speaker is trying to say, loving her from the beginning to end of time. Also, the speaker uses the striking idea of death and virginity, as stated before. When the mistress dies, the speaker warns her that, “worms shall try / That long-preserved virginity” (Lines 27-28), meaning that worms will end up taking her virginity in the grave. This surprises the audience with a raw comparison most would not think of, thus leaving the audience to ponder how they will end up in the grave. The speaker then states “none, I think, do there embrace” (Line 32), which clearly means nobody has sex in the grave, so they should finish the deed before they both perish. Hyperbolic metaphors and comparisons in Marvell’s

The presence of metaphorical conceits, such as the speaker saying that he will love the mistress “Vaster than empires and more slow” (Line 12), make this poem metaphysical because it addresses the fact that time will settle once they are together. The idea of time slowing down is metaphysical since time is always steady and consistent. This makes the audience question whether this could be possible and whether the mistress believes it. The message of time as a conceit makes the theme of carpe diem clear. The audience would not notice it if it was not presented in a way where they could question its wording. Along with conceits, the use of hyperbolic metaphors are essential to metaphysical poetry. Without the imagery of worms taking the mistress’s virginity, the audience would not feel as if something is being questioned. Metaphysical poetry prompts readers to question life and what it brings. In this case, the idea of the grave deals with the scarceness of time, and time is the conceit that coincides with the theme of carpe diem. The poem uses an abundance of metaphysical elements, conceits and hyperboles, making this poem undoubtedly