to his coy mistress

The first person figurative voice is used extensively in the poem 'To his Coy Wife.' Andrew Marvell's work is classified as a monologue due to his use of the first-person character, 'I.' Nonetheless, the dramatic nature of the poem is seen as he addresses a second person using himself as the persona. The poet has written the piece in such a way that the reader feels as though they are listening in on the persona's private conversations. Finally, he declines to reveal his or the mistress's name, preventing the reader from connecting the romantic readings. Coy in the context of the poem refers to one with characteristics of modesty as well as being playful.

Historical Context

Poetry began early in the 1660s when British colonized India. The colonial powers were grabbing the Indians’ lands and also enslaved them. Andrew Marvel presents himself in the first stanza as a powerful politician who was closely monitoring the British imperial powers in India. Andrew Marvel firmly points out some of the challenges and oppressive rule that the British were imposing on the Indians (Bennett & Royle, 2016). When he uses ‘she’ in the context of the first stanza from the fifth stanza, Marvell refers to the colonialists. He does not only stop at that but also goes further to warn them that if she could not stop the act, it would destroy Britain. The grabbing of land, infringing people’s rights, and shutting down their voice was amongst some of the challenges that would cause British destruction in the later days (Marvell, 2010). The people of India were in the real sense developing intense hatred and dislike about the British who came into their country, enslaved them, and took their women.

Themes and Stylistic Characteristics

The poet manages to display topics in this work in a vivid manner. At the first stanza, the poem describes the British Imperial Rule and the adverse effects that it had on the Indians. Colonialism is widely discussed through the fifth line of the poem. The theme of sexual intimacy is also depicted in the manner that the song expresses its views (Marvell & Harrison, 2004). The persona tells his mistress that she should have sex with him before they both died since life is very short. If they failed to do so, worms in the ground would take her virginity according to the persona. Andrew’s sexual plea is based on unrealistic persuasions seen from his statement that having sex could stop the sun.

The poet has adopted exaggeration in his poetry. In the real sense, having sex cannot hold the sun. The same exaggeration has been applied on the negative persuasive tactics where he wants the lady to believe that it is better to have sex with him before she dies and lose her virginity to insects in her grave (Bennett & Royle, 2016). Metaphoric reference of the British colony as the mistress in the poet is a stylistic device that is compost of both metaphor and personification.

Current Relevance

The poem is of much relevance today. In the first instance where the harsh imperial British rule is discussed, the current government and leaders get criticized. Some of the current leaders steal and engage in corrupt dealings that negatively affect the citizens whom they are supposed to serve diligently (Marvell, 2010). Andrew shades light on the dictatorial rules that are still observed in many countries today. In his advice, he urges the British to stop such kinds of dictatorship on the Indians lest such invasion destroys it. The same message should be passed to current anarchies given that time shall come when the citizens will be fed up, and they would turn against the rule. The poem also signifies the work that is done by activists in the current world.

There are sexual moral concerns in the present days where many teenagers get into the trap of early pregnancies. The men who do that are said to use tactics that persuade the young girls to develop decisions that leave them vulnerable (Marvell, 2010). Fantasies lure some of these young girls as they end up dropping out of college or destroying their careers. The poem is thus very relevant in the current situations and events.

Changing Perspective

Today, the idea of advocating for change or demanding action through poetry is still being used in some cases. However, the use of public movements and demonstrations has become more popular than poetry in the current world. On the other hand, teenagers are also exposed to early sexual education so that they can be aware of the fallacies and misconceptions that they could be told by people of evil motives just to take advantage of them.

Andrew Marvell has adopted a critical societal topic relating to sexual relationships in describing the actual problems that the society faces. Political advocacy comes out clearly as a role of art and poetry in informing the public on crucial matters and pointing out the wrong types of leadership in the country. Social education is also fundamental for all the generations of a community.







References

Bennett, A., & Royle, N. (2016). An introduction to literature, criticism and theory. New York: Routledge.

Colie, R. L. (2015). My Echoing Song: Andrew Marvell's Poetry of Criticism. Princeton University Press.

Marvell, A. (2010). To his coy mistress. S. Greenblatt & M,. Abrams (Eds.). The Norton Anthology of English Literature , 1703-1704.

Marvell, A., & Harrison, T. (2004). To his coy mistress (pp. 120-21). ProQuest LLC.