Analyses of Literary Techniques in "To His Coy Mistress"
Sarita Chuang

 “To His Coy Mistress” is a dramatic monologue, in which the speaker addressed to his lady.
In this poem, there are argument and counter-argument, as well as a conclusion.
The poem is also different from conventional courtly love poetry, because in the first two stanzas,the speaker used a lot of exaggeration of time and space.
 
The first stanza is the part of argument. From line 1 to 4,
the speaker expressed his wish that if he and his lady had enough time,
he would take the conventional way to praise and court his lady.
But in the following lines, exaggeration of time and space make it clear
that conventional way of courtship is simply impossible for them,
and such exaggeration serves as an irony to conventional ways of courtship.
First, from line 5-10,the speaker used the distance between the Indian Granges and Humber to represent the vast space,and the length of time is suggested by “ten years before the flood… till the conversion of the Jews.
” In line 11 and 12, the word, “vegetable” implies the slowly growing sense of the speaker’s love; “vaster than empires and more slow”again shows the exaggeration of space and time.
From line 13 to 17,
the speaker said he would use hundreds of years to praise his lover’s different body parts,
and such expression only implies their lack of time,
although the speaker declared that the lady did deserve such high praise.
The fact is that such high praise was impossible, given their circumstances.
 
 The second stanza is where we see the counter-argument.
With the word “but” in the beginning of line 21, we see the change in the speaker’s tone.
The speaker said that apparently they were losing time, for “time’s winged chariot is hurrying near.”The image of  “deserts of vast eternity” suggests the uncertainties lying before the speaker and his lady.Besides, from line 25 to the end of the second stanza,
the speaker created a terrifying image about the result of his lover’s not accepting his courtship.
It seems that the speaker means if they don’t enjoy themselves to the fullest at this very moment,
they might not have another chance.
On the other hand, the speaker is trying to persuade his lover to accept his courtship and to make love with him by telling her the horrifying image with sexual connotation.
 
However, in the last stanza, i.e., the conclusion, the meaning of this poem is elevated,
because the last stanza talks about universal human experience, not just courtly love.
The images of morning dew suggests the quick passing and gradual disappearance
of the lady’s youth,and the words like “transpires” and “instant fires” suggest
a sense of transience in human life.
Then, from line 37 till the end of this poem,
the speaker reveals his desire to swallow time rather than to be swallowed.
He called to his lady that they should gather their strength together into one ball,
and conquer the tortures of life together.
Here, the torture are implied by “iron gates of life”,which also means passages of life
each human being has to go through and experience.
The last two lines are paradoxical, because the speaker had previously expressed his wish to compete with time andthat there is not enough time for them,
but he also wanted to make their sun run faster,which means the time could go faster, too.
 
 To sum up, in “To His Coy Mistress,” the speaker used many images and metaphors to express his opinions.
The poem is special because the speaker didn’t take the conventional way to court his lady,
and because the conclusion is not only the speaker’s feeling about courting the lady,
but also everyone’s desire of not being devoured by time. Through this elevation,
the meaning of the whole poem is expanded and elevated, too.

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