Love in To His Coy Mistress and The Flea Essay - 1850 Words

Love in To His Coy Mistress and The Flea Both To His Coy Mistress, by Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) and The Flea, by John Donne (1572-1631) present different attitudes to love. Both are also structured very differently and occasionally use contrasting imagery. Each poem was written in the 17th century, just after the Renaissance. The poets were metaphysical poets. Although the metaphysic was originally a derogatory term, metaphysical poetry used intellectual and theological concepts in an ingenious way. Metaphysical poetry was partly written in rebellion against the highly conventional Elizabethan love poetry just prior to the time. Conventional love poetry what one would generally expect of a†¦show more content†¦Also, as their bloods are already mingled (L.4) in the flea, her virginity is not immensely valuable. This links with the 17th century idea that women became pregnant when the blood of the man mixed with her blood during sexual intercourse. ¹ In contrast, Marvells use of imagery is more complex, in a way, as he uses many different concepts to persuade. However, like the image of the flea, the image of worms that will try (L.27) the Coy Mistress in death is very unconventional. It presents the attitude that the act of love is completely necessary in a relationship. The phallic imagery is used in a threatening way as worms are generally associated with earth and tombs, which corresponds to the idea of death. The notion of time is used as the basis for the argument in To his Coy Mistress. Marvell manipulates the idea of time in different ways. In the first stage of the poem he uses time, as he flatters the Coy Mistress, to suggest that love is a timeless pleasure, and that even thirty thousand (L.16) years would not be enough time to adore her. In the second part of his argument, however, Marvell changes the tone to one of urgency as the speaker frightens the Coy Mistress and threatens that his lust will be into ashes (L.30) in death. He incorporates death imagery with time in a rather sinister way,Show MoreRelated Love in The Flea and To his Coy Mistress Essay2087 Words   |  9 PagesLove in The Flea and To his Coy Mistress Compare the ways John Donne in his poem The Flea and Andrew Marvell in his poem To his Coy Mistress present the theme of love. Donne and Marvell’s poems have both similarities and differences, as they both present the theme of love in an unconventional way and dwell on it superficially. This can be seen by the way in which both authors show their views on love, though are clearly just using them as attempts to seduce their mistresses, who are clearlyRead More Love in To His Coy Mistress, Shall I Compare Thee, Let Me Not, and The Flea3166 Words   |  13 PagesLove in To His Coy Mistress, Shall I Compare Thee, Let Me Not, and The Flea The four poems I am going to be comparing are, â€Å"To His Coy Mistress,† â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee,† â€Å"Let Me Not,† and â€Å"The Flea.† All four of these poems are based on the subject matter of love. The four poems have a lot in common but each poem touches a different aspect of love. Two of the poems, â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee†, and â€Å"Let Me Not†, are sonnets and both were written by Shakespeare. â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†Read MoreThe Flea, By Andrew Marvell996 Words   |  4 PagesDonne s, The Flea, and Andrew Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress are persuasive poem in which the speaker is attempting to establish a sexual union with his significant other. These poems is spoken by a male lover to his female beloved as an attempt to convince her to sleep with him. John Donne and Marvell brings out and shapes this meaning through his collective use of conceit, rhythm, and rhyme scheme. The basic theme of the poems is the speaker’s need to turn his â€Å"coy mistress† into a â€Å"willingRead More Look again at the three seventeenth century poems, To His Coy Mistress,1589 Words   |  7 PagesLook again at the three seventeenth century poems, To His Coy Mistress, The Flea, and Shall I compare thee. 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Being metaphysical poetry is not the only thing these two poems have in common. The Flea by John Donne and To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell are two poems that share several of the same themes. One of those themes being sex, specifically premarital sex. In both poems, the speaker is pursuing aRead More To his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell and The Flea by John Donne1987 Words   |  8 PagesTo his Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell and The Flea by John Donne Two of the poems in Best Words are seduction poems, rather than love poems. These are To his coy mistress by Andrew Marvell and The Flea by John Donne. Compare these two poems by analysing: -  · Each poets intention  · Form of the poem  · Language used in the poem  · Your reaction to the unromantic poems. ‘Let me not to the marriage of true minders/Admit impediments, love is not love’, is one of many famous love sonnetsRead MoreMetaphysical Poems792 Words   |  4 PagesDonne’s â€Å"The Flea† and Marvell’s â€Å"To Coy his Mistress.† In both poems, the speaker presents the element of a metaphysical conceit. The concept of love is the main focus, and this is where the metaphysical conceit is apparent. The men in the poems are trying to convince the women of their love/lust, but both women refuse the advances. The difference in these poems is the metaphor used. Donne uses the flea, while Marvell uses the concept of time. In â€Å"The Flea,† the speaker uses the flea jumping fromRead MoreThe s Coy Mistress By Andrew Marvell And The Flea1919 Words   |  8 Pagesthroughout â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† by Andrew Marvell and â€Å"The Flea† by John Donne functions as a way to present, confirm and refute the traditional stereotypical view of carpe diem love poetry. The speakers within both poems aim to â€Å"seize the day† by wooing and taking advantage of women and their virginity and sexuality. They not only want to take advantage of the time they have but also make sure they do not regret not doing anything in the future. In specific, â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† presents the view