Re-read the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell. Think about our discussion in class. Re-evaluate the diction (word choice) of the author. What type of woman is the speaker addressing? Who is she? Make sure to use textual evidence as support.
I think the speaker is addressing a woman he already knows. By the way he speaks to her, it sounds like he has known her before. For example, like we discussed in class, I do not think he would mention worms taking her virginity once in the grave if she was a random stranger. I also think the way he is confessing his love is like he has known her for some time. He seems to know what to say to catch her attention. I believe the woman is also quite young because he talks about how they should share their love while they are still young and before they get too old. We pointed out in class that the woman seems to be a tease. At first, I felt like she may have been also a bit innocent because of how he was adoring and cherishing her. As the poem went on, I did not feel her innocence as much anymore because I do not believe he would speak so crazily and passionately about sex if she was a simple and innocent young woman.
ReplyDeleteWhat does he say to catch her attention?
DeleteI believe the mistress is somebody the speaker already knows and has some level of intimacy with. No woman is dim enough to fall for something like this coming from a stranger. The speaker and the mistress must already know eachother and have at least a flirtatious relationship.
ReplyDeleteHow do we know she isn't "dim"?
DeleteI think that the woman is the love interest of the author. He loves her so much and she loves him so much as well. The way he talks to her show complete and utter obsession with this woman. If he didn't know this woman very well, he probably wouldn't be talking to her like he is because it would probably scare her off.
ReplyDeleteDoes he love her? Where does the speaker say this?
DeleteI think that the speaker is adressing a woman he already knows. I do not think the speaker would say such intimate things without knowing her first because I do not think he would want to freak her out. In the beginning of the poem the speaker describes his love for the woman and you cannot just fake those type of feelings. I think that the woman and speaker are both young friends that are starting to develop intimate feelings for one another.
ReplyDeleteWhat does he "love" about her in the first stanza?
DeleteI think the speaker is talking about a woman he already knows, and just has a friendly relationship with. From the diction in the poem, I feel like she is a flirtatious woman, who probably has more love interests other than the speaker.
ReplyDeleteHow do we know he is in a "friendly relationship" with her?
DeleteI think the speaker is addressing a woman he is already close with. I don't think a woman would be so gullible to fall for his act. I also do not think he would try so hard to pick some random woman up either. The woman may be oblivious to the speaker's intimacy towards her.
ReplyDeleteI think the subject of the poem is a woman who the narrator has known for a while. My main reason for thinking this is the impatience that transfers through the narrator's words. He talks about the speed with which time is passing, and basically tells her that it's now or never. This leads me to believe that he has been waiting for her for so long that he felt the need to express his love to hurry things along.
ReplyDeleteExcellent use of support, Miranda!
DeleteThe speaker of "To His Coy Mistress" is speaking to a women in which he has a personal relationship with. The speaker takes the first stanza to describe her and what they would do together. In this stanza he is romantic, which could suggest that he could just be trying to woo the girl; however, in the second stanza the speaker is in dier need of convincing her to sleep with him by saying "then worms shall try/That long preserv'd virginity,/And your quaint honour turn to dust"(27-29). It is as if he insults her and if he were trying to woo her he would not say that, he would still be romantic. Therefore proving that he had to of had some kind of personal relationship with the girl. Also, the speaker challenging time at the very end of the poem gives the poem a different feel. If the speaker did not know this mistress he would not be challenging anything. Men in general usually only challenge other mean over a girl when he has a personal relationship with her. Therefore by challenging time the speaker must know the mistress.
ReplyDeleteWow. Really...wow.
DeleteI believe that the speaker is addressing a woman he knows. This is because the way in which he speaks to her is casual and a bit personal. I would never go up to some random person and try to convince them to have sex with me because if not the worms will take their virginity in the tomb. I mean it's possible for a complete weird person to do so but I really doubt that is what's going on in this poem. I believe the woman the speaker is talking to is a high class innocent lady that the speaker has found interest in. I also believe the woman is a flirt and has led the speaker on to think they have something more than what they really do.
ReplyDeleteI think that The mistress is someone that the autho is already been involved with. The author uses words that leds us to know that he already knows her. He uses past tense. I think that the speaker is trying to reminissing on his memories with her. He misses her and the times they spent together.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the woman the speaker is talking to is someone he already has a relationship with. I believe he already has a relationship with this women because I do not believe that he could make the assumption that she was coy without having already known her. Also, the way he talks about time makes it seem like he has already waited for her for a while.
ReplyDeleteI believe the woman and the speaker already have some type of relationship. He would not use such a playful tone if he was speaking to a stranger. He must know her in order to be so confident with the way he speaks. His words in the poem would most likely scare off somone who did not know who he was. His talk about sex and losing virginity to worms is something a man would not say to a woman he just met and has not met yet. No woman would be drawn in by this unless the woman was in a relationship with him. The woman is a tease, which would be a logical explanation for his playful tone. In conclusion, the speaker must be talking to a woman he is already in a relationship with because he is so direct and blunt, instead of romantic all the way through.
ReplyDeleteI feel the speaker is adressing his love interest of many years. From the text I can see he loves her very much and wants to be with her. She is very lovely by his description.
ReplyDeleteDoes he love her? How do you know? What about her does he love?
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ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that the speaker is addressing a woman who has "friend-zoned" him, so to speak. She's a woman of intelligence, otherwise she wouldn't understand what he was saying. It almost seems as though he may be talking to a woman of a higher class than himself. So he uses the most intelligent-sounding words to beef up his description of what a life they could have. However, I don't think this poem is about love. He does say, "I would love you ten years before the Flood," but it says would. It doesn't say that he does. In that line, he's saying if they had the time, he would love her forever, but they don't. So he insinuates that they should just hook up, therefore the worms won't take her virginity, when she dies.
ReplyDeleteAfter our discussion in class the other day, I came to the conclusion that the speaker is addressing somebody that he already knows. The way he speaks to her seems as if he is just teasing her trying to get her to give it up. One example of this would be when he said if she didn't give it up to him then the worms would take her virginity instead. The speaker definitely knows this woman well enough to be comfortable enough to talk this way to her. I think the woman is very much a tease as well which gives him reason to play with her as she has been playing or toying with him.
ReplyDeleteContrary to what most have said so far, I believe that the speaker is addressing a woman he has had no previous relationship. She is a flirtaous person and this must be well known or else he would not be so bold. What makes me believe they have had no previous relationship is his constant reference to time. He speaks as if they will only a short time together. What he says about years spent on each body part is more of an analogy of dedication of time and dedication due to love. The speaker's statement of worms taking her virginity is not suppose to be taken literal and also is not meant to be threatening. It is more of a compliment to a woman who is well known to not have her virginity and also playful silly flirting to someone who knows better. The direct way he speaks about what he wants also indicates her to be a nonvirginal flirtaous woman.
ReplyDeleteThe mistress that Andrew Marvell is writing about has to be a woman he has already met and knows. No man would try to pick up a girl by being as forward as he did. Most that do fail miserably. His word use can only be to a girl that knows him as a person. While a new woman may not have understood what he was asking for causing an awkward situation. Also, this mistress had to be a woman he had known previous to writing this poem, because he already knew she was a virgin. This shows he had to know something about her, otherwise he wouldn't have included the line in which he talks about worms taking her virginity. No he does not love her. He's in it simply for the sex. He continues to praise her body and how amazing she looks, but never about her as a person.
ReplyDeleteI think the mistress and the speaker have known each other for a while. He seems impatient, as though he has been waiting for her for a pretty long time, and I don't think there would be such a sense of urgency if they had only just met. I don't really get the impression that she's a tease, though. There's not a whole lot of textual evidence to show us what she's really like, so I admit my interpretation is probably based mostly on personal bias. To me, though, she seems like a quiet, innocent girl who's not really that interested in the speaker but is too shy and gentle to tell him so. I wouldn't blame her for not liking the speaker. After all, as Sam pointed out, he only talks about her body and never praises her personality or character. This is really why we don't know much about the mistress. The speaker just doesn't care enough to talk about what she's really like. He talks about spending hundreds of years admiring her body before he bothers to look at her heart. A worthy gentleman who truly loved her would get to know her as a person first, admiring her heart before he dared to admire her body (which he would do only after they were married, of course).
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