Andrew Marvell’s poem “To his coy mistress”dates back to the 17th Century but hit is still popular in the 21st Century. Most likely, the poem was written by Marvell even before he served as a minister in the government of Oliver Comwell.This paper seeks todiscuss significant reasons and premises behind the fact that the poem remains popular up to nowadays.
The paper also investigates the reasons why Marvell’s poem is still popular,and why it is used by many authors in the 21st century (MacLeish, 198).
The persona in the poem refers to a woman who, according to him, is slow in responding to his sexual advances. The persona spendsand lives his life for decades doing nothing but just admiring her body part by part.The woman’sfailure to comply is never putting him off. In the first stanza, he makes a description of how much he is able to cherish and love this woman if only she could spend some unlimited timetogether with him.
He remembers the manner in which human life is short in the second stanza, and states that once this time is over, there would not be the opportunity to enjoy life with one another. However, the persona appeals to this woman to comply with his advances in the last stanza and asserts that when people love one another, they actually make use of the most short human life they live together (Marvell, 02).
This poem “To his coy mistress” has been popular since the 17th Century because of the composite elements and various contexts found in it. The elements and patterns used in this poem have been used up to the 21st century since other authors popularizeit among themselves by using various lines in their pieces of work.
The elements such as image, alliteration, metaphor, and tone that are used in this poem help us deeply understand the meaning of the poem and the nuances enriching the said meaning. In another perspective, Marvell’s poem “To his coy mistress” is still popular due to the fact that it has been taken as a fable of a political rebellion.
The poem suggested rejection of the existing structures of power and conventional beliefs in the 17th Century. Marvell clearly puts his monarchy ambivalent relationship defined by Charles’ execution. His contemporaries always illuminated particular tensions between the society and self emerging in his poem. This has made the poem relevant and useful up to this 21st Century (MacLeish, 198).
Andrew Marvell’s poem “To his coy mistress” is still relevant and popular up to now because of the themes portrayed in it. Marvell issues challenges that are contemporary to the beliefs perceived about female sexuality. This is forever an issue of concern and still makes the poem popular.
The years of reformation has witnessed a drift away from the embrace of celibacy of the church to the emphasis of the holy matrimony. Just as the 17th Century emphasizes significance of the female chastity in the marriage, the same tendency can be observed in the 21st Century as well. The poem also warns about spiritual and moral repercussions of lust which is still a concern in this century making it popular up to date (Strand 203).
In today’s century, many authors still use the phrases from Andrew Marvell’s poem “To his coy mistress”. For instance, Robert Penn Warren used the phrase “World enough and time” as a title to his novel making the poem popular among new generations. Other philosophers of physics and science fiction books borrowed phrasesfrom the same poem while other authors have written various books about the biography of Andrew Marvell making his works popular around the world (Strand 105).
In my opinion, Andrew Marvell’s poem “To his coy mistress” may have remained popular to date due to the kind of fame other authors have been branding him. His poem constitutes a lot of styles and attractive lines that every author wants to associate himself or herself with. In other aspects, the ideas portrayed in the poem are vital; Andrew Marvell discusses various significant themes in his poem that are still perceived by many readers as important to the society.
For instance, the theme of love has been expressed in the whole poem. The speaker in the poem adores a woman and tells her how much he can love her and want to spend a few moments they have on this earth together if only she could comply with his requests. These are common practices and experiences that we go through in our daily lives.
Therefore, the poem is still used as an example of how to educate learners in the 21st Century. Other authors are gaining credits in their works by citing the works of Andrew Marvell in their pieces of work (MacLeish 200).
In summary, Andrew Marvell’s poem “To his coy mistress” is still relevant and useful in this century due to its composite elements, style, and themes illustrated in it. This paper has, therefore, discussed the reasons why the poem written in the 17th Century is still popular in the 21st Century.
Works Cited
MacLeish, Andrea. You and Andrew Marvell, New York: Poetry Foundation, 2004. Print.
Marvell, Andrew. “To his coy mistress”, San Francisco: MacAdam, 2003. Print.
Strand, Michael. The Weather of Words, Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2005. Print.