1. To His Coy Mistress Summary
"To His Coy Mistress" is divided into three stanzas or poetic paragraphs. It’s spoken by a
nameless man, who doesn’t reveal any physical or biographical details about himself, to a
nameless woman, who is also biography-less.
During the first stanza, the speaker tells the mistress that if they had more time and space,
her "coyness" (see our discussion on the word "coy" in "What’s Up With the Title?") wouldn’t
be a "crime." He extends this discussion by describing how much he would compliment her
and admire her, if only there was time. He would focus on "each part" of her body until he got
to the heart (and "heart," here, is both a metaphor for sex, and a metaphor for love).
In the second stanza he says, "BUT," we don’t have the time, we are about to die! He tells
her that life is short, but death is forever. In a shocking moment, he warns her that, when
she’s in the coffin, worms will try to take her "virginity" if she doesn’t have sex with him
before they die. If she refuses to have sex with him, there will be repercussions for him, too.
All his sexual desire will burn up, "ashes" for all time.
In the third stanza he says, "NOW," I’ve told you what will happen when you die, so let’s
have sex while we’re still young. Hey, look at those "birds of prey" mating. That’s how we
should do it – but, before that, let’s have us a little wine and time (cheese is for sissies).
Then, he wants to play a game – the turn ourselves into a "ball" game. (Hmmm.) He
suggests, furthermore, that they release all their pent up frustrations into the sex act, and, in
this way, be free.
In the final couplet, he calms down a little. He says that having sex can’t make the "sun" stop
moving. In Marvell’s time, the movement of the sun around the earth (we now believe the
earth rotates around the sun) is thought to create time. Anyway, he says, we can’t make time
stop, but we can change places with it. Whenever we have sex, we pursue time, instead of
time pursuing us. This fellow has some confusing ideas about sex and time. Come to think of
it, we probably do, too. "To His Coy Mistress" offers us a chance to explore some of those
confusing thoughts.
• The speaker starts off by telling the mistress that if there was enough time and
enough space ("world enough, and time"), then her "coyness" (see "What’s up with
the title" for some definitions) wouldn’t be a criminal act.
• This is a roundabout way of calling her a criminal, and makes us think of jails,
courtrooms, and punishments.
• Hmmm. What exactly is her crime? What is she being "coy" about?
In any case, he continues…. If they had all the time and space they wanted, they could
Google everything, read guide books, and carefully consider where they might go next, while
aimlessly strolling and resting whenever they pleased.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

2. • She could hang out on the bank of the "Indian Ganges" finding "rubies."
• The Ganges River is considered sacred and holy by many people all over the world.
In Marvell’s time, the Ganges is pure and pristine. Now, many parts of it are
incredibly polluted.
Thou by the Indian Ganges' side
Shouldst rubies find: I by the tide
• And, he would be across the world at the Humber tidal estuary, skipping in the froth
from the waves and whining. (Actually, he says "complain," which also means "love
song.")
• This would place them far away from each other, obviously.
• The speaker doesn’t sound thrilled at the idea of a long-distance relationship.
Lines 7-10
Of Humber would complain. I would
Love you ten years before the Flood,
And you should, if you please, refuse
Till the conversion of the Jews.
• He would go back in time to Noah and the Flood, and forward in time to the
"conversion of the Jews," all the while loving her.
• The speaker’s grand, Biblical language mocks poems which describe love in divine
terms.
Lines 11-12
My vegetable love should grow
Vaster than empires, and more slow;
• Then, we get one of the poem’s most famous lines. The speaker starts telling the
mistress about his "vegetable love."
• Much debate occurs over the meaning of this term.
• The word "slow" in line 12 gives us a clue. We think "vegetable love" is "organic love"
– love without the pressure of anything but nature, a natural process resulting in
something nourishing – vegetables.
• But, be careful. Since it’s organic, vegetable love will cost a little more in the grocery
store.
• We can’t neglect another connotation, either.
• A certain part of the male anatomy is shaped like certain members of the vegetable
kingdom. Vegetable love also refers to that.
• Some literary critics think the "vegetable" in "vegetable love" refers to the female
anatomy, as well.
• We’ll let you do the math on your own.

3. Lines 13-17
An hundred years should go to praise
Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze;
Two hundred to adore each breast,
But thirty thousand to the rest;
An age at least to every part,
• Anyhow, he says that, if he had time, he would give her compliments about each of
her individual body parts, and he would spend a bazillion years doing it.
Line 18
nd the last age should show your heart.
• And then, finally, after all that complimenting, she would "show [her] heart,"
presumably by having sex with him.
Line 19-20
For, Lady, you deserve this state,
Nor would I love at lower rate.
• You’re worth it, too, he says, and I wouldn’t give you anything less than that first-
class love.
• The word "rate" cleverly links with the word "heart" of the previous line, making us
think of "heart rate."
Lines 21-22
But at my back I always hear
Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;
• And, then, he gives her a huge gigantic "BUT." Ouch. You see, the speaker hears
something behind him: "Time’s winged chariot," to be exact.
• He’s being chased down by Time’s hybrid car!
• He doesn’t say who’s driving, but we can assume it’s probably Time.
Lines 23-24
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.

4. • Then, he seems to have a hallucination.
• Look, he tells the mistress, look at all this sand. The future is just endless sand.
• We’re all going to die.
Line 25
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
• And you won’t look so pretty there, missy.
Lines 26
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
• You sure won’t be able to hear my pretty song when you are in a "grave."
Lines 27-28
My echoing song: then worms shall try
That long preserved virginity,
• This next part is even creepier.
• The speaker tells the mistress that, in the grave, worms will have sex with her.
• According to the line, she’s a virgin.
Line 29
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
• In the grave, her "quaint honor" will completely disintegrate.
• According to The Norton Anthology of English Literature, "quaint" is a euphemism
that means "vagina."
• So, he’s telling her that she can’t take her virginity with her into the afterlife, and
making icky jokes about her vagina.
Line 30
And into ashes all my lust:
• Next, he tells her that if they die without having sex together, his "lust" or desire, will
all burn up, with nothing left but the "ashes."
• Interestingly, he seems to imply that, if he can’t have sex with her, he won’t have sex
at all.

5. Lines 31-32
The grave 's a fine and private place,
But none, I think, do there embrace.
• He rubs in the whole thing by telling her that coffins are great: they have lots of
privacy, but no hugging!
Line 33
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
• Luckily, he leaves all that morbidity behind, and gives us the old "now, therefore." By
this, the speaker suggests that his argument is successful, and that he’s about to tell
the mistress what she should do, since his argument is so successful.
Lines 34-36
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
• He kind of brings her back from the grave here. Just a minute ago, he imagines her
dead in the crypt, and, now, he tells her how young she is, and how her soul rushes
around excitedly inside her, leaking out through her pores.
• "Transpire" has a few fun meanings that you can ponder.
• The first is "to come to light."
• The second is "to happen."
• The third actually has to do with plants. If a plant "transpires," it loses water vapor
through its stomata (little pores on a plant's leaves), a crucial part of photosynthesis.
Line 37
Now let us sport us while we may,
• Since you are transpiring (rhymes with "perspiring") and all, let’s play some games,
he tells her.
• Then, he gets a brilliant idea.
Line 38
And now, like amorous birds of prey,
• They should pretend to be birds of prey, mating!

6. • (Sounds a little dangerous to us.)
• Also, the word "prey" introduces violence, and therefore uneasiness, into the scene.
Line 39
Rather at once our time devour
• But, before the games begin, we should have a little pre-mating dinner.
• Here, honey, try this seared fillet-o-time, on a bed of vegetable love.
• And for dessert – time capsules!
• See, time deserves to be eaten.
Line 40
Than languish in his slow-chapt power.
• Time exerts its "slow-chapped power" over the speaker for far too long.
• According to the Norton Anthology of English Literature, "slow-chapped power"
means "slowly devouring jaws."
• In short, he feels like he’s dying in Time’s mouth, and that time is slowly eating him
up.
• He wants to turn the tables, and thinks that sex, or so he tells his mistress, is the way
to get time under his control.
Lines 41-42
Let us roll all our strength and all
Our sweetness up into one ball,
• Next comes his actual description of sex. The rolling up in a ball doesn’t sound so
bad. "Strength" carries on the idea of sex as sport from line 37. Come to think of it,
"ball" works that way, too.
Lines 43-44
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life:
• But, what’s with "tear" and "strife"?
• It makes sense from the speaker’s perspective.
• He claims to believe that sex is the way to another world, a way to break out of the
prison of time.
• This also suggests that he thinks that bringing the "strife" of life into the bedroom will
enhance the sexual experience.

7. Lines 45-46
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
• In this final couplet (a couplet is a stanza made up of two lines, usually rhyming), the
speaker seems a little bit calmer.
• He talks about the sun now, instead of time.
• In his time, the sun is thought to control time.
• In the end, he admits that sex is a compromise.
• They can’t use it to stop time, but they can use it to make time go faster.
• What? If time goes faster, won’t the speaker and the mistress die sooner?
• Not if he’s in control.
• And, not if, as we suggest in "Symbols, Images and Wordplay" under "The Great
Beyond," the sun and time, also represent death.
• If they can make time run, it won’t have time to kill people.
• Er, or something like that.
• It’s not necessarily the most rational argument, but it has its charm.
• And, the speaker isn’t the first person to think that sex is the answer to all problems.
• In any case, the final couplet can give you food for thought for years.
To His Coy Mistress : Andrew Marvell - Summary and Critical Analysis
If human life were not limited by space and time, the beloved’s coyness would not
harm the lover and the beloved. They would sit and plan how to pass their long time.
The beloved would be by the side of the Indian Ganges and the lover by the side of the
Humber in England. She could refuse him as long as she pleased. His love would grow
larger slowly.
He would praise every part of her body spending a lot of time because she
is so beautiful and his love is so deep. But the poet (the lover) is followed
by endless thoughts of the ever-nearing chariot whose wheels are always
audible. There is no escape from the life and the laws of time. In front, of
him there is the stillness, the barrenness of the eternity. Time makes her
old and she will die. Then she will no longer be beautiful. Her dead body
will be eaten by the worms. Her honor will turn into dust and his lust also
will pass away. Although she will be in her private place in the grave, yet
nobody will embrace her there.
Therefore when she is young, beautiful, active, they should amuse each
other. Instead of acting slowly, they should act quickly. They should
gather all their strength and sweetness. They should fight to get pleasure.
Although they cannot stop the time they will enjoy while it is passing.
The speaker in 'To His Coy Mistress' has expressed his tender feeling
of love to his coy Mistress. He inspires us to enjoy love as long as we live
in this world. The poet means to say that we should enjoy love within the
limited time. The life time of a man is very short. In this short life a

8. To His Coy Mistress : Andrew Marvell - Summary and Critical Analysis
person should enjoy his life with his love partner. He prefers to pass some
time by the side of the river Ganga. He would like to nourish her love till
ten years before the destruction of the world by flood, though his beloved
may refuse it even before the prophecy of destruction by the Jews.
The poet has compared his love to vegetable in respect of quick growth.
As vegetable grows quickly so he wishes that his love with his coy
mistress should grow and develop vaster than empires. He won’t like to
praise her eyes and forehead for hindered years. He would feel pleasure
in enjoying her each breast for two hundred years and for the rest part of
her body he would be praising her for thirty thousand years. He would
regard her as a body of higher rate nor of lower rate. So he encourages
her to test the pleasure of love without any delay and without the feelings
of shame and hesitation.
The chariot of time is passing very quickly and nearing death and vast
eternity. After death her body would turn into dust and in the grave none
would embrace her. The poet is of suggestion that the youth is the best
time of life. As long as the youthful skin of the young person is fresh and
bright as dew drops and the fire of parson burns, we should enjoy life like
happy birds. Life is full of struggle and bitterness. Youth is the best
opportunity to cross dry and monotonous Iron Gate of life with love and
affection. This dry life of ours must be spent within the circle of love and
passion.
This poem is a philosophical poem mixed with the feeling of love. It is
a fine lyric with beautiful style. The theme of love has been expressed in a
very intelligent way in this poem.
THE GARDEN
The Garden by Andrew Marvell is a unique poem which is romantic in
its expression, metaphysical in its word-game, and classical in its
music. It is romantic because it is about the nature in subject and
theme, and it is the expression of the poet’s personal and emotional
feelings about life in the nature (and society). Its style is metaphysical
because it uses the conceit, forceful argument, allusions (references)
from sources like the Bible, myths and metaphysical philosophies. And
it is a classical poem in its form because the stanzas, rhythm, rhyme
and word-choice is like in classical poetry (carefully perfected form,
and a language different from the ordinary). The theme is that the
garden (which is the symbol of life in nature) is the perfect place for

9. physical, mental and spiritual comfort and satisfaction, unlike the
society where pleasure is false and temporary.
The poet has finally found the nature and realized its value; he claims
that the nature is the only true place for complete luxury. 'The Garden'
is a unique metaphysical poem which is Romantic in its subject matter
and also contains classical elements in its diction, meter and structure.
The poem is written in heroic couplet, which deals with the poet’s
experience of feelings and ideas about the garden that represents the
nature. The pet begins by comparing the nature with society and social
life and criticizing the society and ‘busy’ worldly life.
In the first stanza, the speaker criticizes men who “vainly amaze”
themselves by putting a garland of a few leaves and believing they
have achieved victory, prestige and reward for all their endless labors.
But in fact, the true and complete pleasure lies in the complete
“garland of repose” in the nature. In the second stanza, he personifies
the quietness and innocence in the nature and speaks to them saying
that he has at last found them after losing his time in men’s company.
Then, he calls the trees “amorous” (sexually playful or powerful).
Expressing such an odd emotion and attachment with trees, he
criticizes lovers for cutting trees to write their beloveds’ names. In the
fourth stanza, he claims that when men’s “heart” of love and youth is
finished, they turn to the nature. According to the speaker, even gods
did this, when for example, Apollo and Pan changed their lovers into
trees.
In the second part of the poem (stanza 3-7), the speaker develops his
arguments and opinions about the nature. In the fifth stanza, he gives
a very sensuous description about his physical pleasure. In the sixth,
he argues that this pleasure is moreover mental. Here he uses an odd
metaphysical philosophical idea that the mind contains another world
and garden as well inside it. In the seventh stanza, he further claims
that this pleasure has a spiritual aspect. He romanticizes how he feels;
he feels as if his soul is singing and gliding from tree to tree as a bird,
combing its feathers, and preparing for the eternal flight of salvation.
Here is also an indirect allusion of the Holy Spirit form the Bible.
The third and last part of the poem is the conclusion (stanza 8and
9). Before making the concluding remark that there can be no
question of genuine pleasure without the nature, the speaker
compares himself with the lonely Adam in Eden; he also argues that
being lonely was a second paradise (heavenly state) for Adam, before
Eve brought about the fall. In the ninth stanza, the speaker thanks
God for creating a unique world of its own that is the garden. The
garden or the nature in general, has its own time: the rush and hurry

10. of the society doesn’t apply here. Even the sun seems to have its own
‘sweet’ course. The garden is therefore the only source of true
physical, mental as well as spiritual satisfaction and ‘repose’.
As a metaphysical poem 'The Garden' uses conceit, wit, far-fetched
images and allusions, and a dramatic situation. The balance of emotion
and intellect is also another metaphysical feature. The romantic myths
about god Apollo and Pan changing girls and enjoying the nature, the
Biblical allusion of Adam’s “lonely” happiness are “heterogeneous ideas
yoked by violence together” within the context in the argument. The
trees and peace of the garden are personified and even sexualized!
The argument about physical pleasure is twisted into the argument
about mental pleasure. At that point, the poet brings a truly
metaphysical idea about the mind. He argues – according to a
medieval philosophy – that his mind is an ocean of all the things and
images of the real world. He further extends the idea of pleasurable
experience by arguing that his pleasure is actually spiritual. There he
goes on to create the imagery of his soul flying like a dove and
preparing for the eternal flight of salvation. The same idea of spiritual
pleasure is also related to the comparison with Adam in Eden. The last
stanza also contains another metaphysical element: the idea of the
garden as a separate sun-dial. The poem is also a dramatic and
emotional expression of personal feelings, which is at the same time
balanced with witty and intellectual ideas and allusions. This ‘unified
sensibility’ also gives the poem another feature of metaphysical
poetry.
As a classical poem, the poem exhibits the qualities like the use of a
different poetic diction, heroic couplet, careful rhythm and design,
classical and educated allusions, and so on. The poem’s main line of
argument is not difficult to summarize. But, there are so many difficult
word and even ‘ordinary’ words used in ‘unusual’ sense. Many
sentences have a Latin-like word order, with the verb at the end, and
so on. There is a classical perfection in its meter and design and
structure as a whole.
The main theme of the poem is that peaceful life in the nature is
more satisfying than social life and human company. The poem is
striking in its sensuous imagery, witty ideas and a balance between
romantic and classical elements, as well as its metaphysical qualities.
Richard Lovelace (1618-1657) sets "To Althea, From Prison" within the walls of Gate House, a
prison in Westminster, London. While confined there for seven weeks in 1642, he spent part of
his time writing "To Althea" and another poem.
Reason for Imprisonment

11. During a power struggle in England between King Charles I and Parliament, Lovelace sided
with the king. Charles—King of England, Ireland, and Scotland from 1625 to 1649—believed
strongly that his authority was God-given and pre-eminent. This viewpoint disconcerted
Parliament. Charles further unsettled Parliament when he married a French Catholic, Princess
Henrietta Maria, and when he championed the authority of the Church of England, insisting on
preservation of its elaborate rituals in opposition to the wishes of a large bloc of Puritans in
Parliament.
After Parliament took issue with his foreign policy and his administration of the national purse,
Charles dissolved Parliament (1629) and governed without it until 1640, when he convened a
new Parliament. Sentiment against him remained strong. However, he had his defenders—
notably a group of writers known as Cavalier poets. They were refined, cultured, fashionably
dressed gentlemen—the very definition of cavalier—who included Lovelace, as well as Thomas
Carew, Robert Herrick, and Sir John Suckling. When Parliament Puritans known as Roundheads
(because of their short haircuts compared with the luxurious locks of the cavaliers) ousted
Anglican bishops from Parliament, Lovelace presented a petition calling for their restoration. In
response, Parliament imprisoned him in Gate House.
Characters
Speaker: He is a prisoner who declares that those who confined him cannot stop him from
exercising his ability to think and dream.
Althea: The woman to whom Lovelace addresses the poem. Her identity is uncertain; she may
even have been a product of Lovelace's imagination. However, evidence suggests she was a
woman named Lucy Sacheverell.