A Comparison of ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell and ‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti

A Comparison of ‘To His Coy Mistress’ by Andrew Marvell and ‘Cousin Kate’ by Christina Rossetti

Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) was a British writer. He was a poet during

the Renaissance period. He was one of the metaphysical poets, known

for his works like ‘To His Coy Mistress’. He was an assistant to John

Milton and a Member of Parliament.

Christina Rossetti (1830-1894) was a British writer. She was one of

the greatest Victorian poets. She lived a reclusive life and was

educated at home. She was part of the Pre-Raphaelite movement in the

Victorian Period. She had a very strong Christian Faith and this was

shown several times in some of her poems.

To His Coy Mistress is a lyrical and metaphysical poem. It’s a poem

that expresses a thought, an idea or an emotion. It is also

characterised by a striking use of wit, irony and wordplay. This is a

Carpe Diem poem. We know this because all throughout the poem Andrew

Marvell talks about time. In the first stanza he says to his coy

mistress that if they had all the time in the world then she could

carry on refusing his proposal for as long as she wanted. In the

second stanza that time is passing by quickly and that soon they will

be old and she would have lost her beauty. In the last stanza he comes

to a conclusion and tells his coy mistress

that they should seize the moment and use up everyday to it’s fullest.

Underneath all the humour and sarcasm Andrew Marvel talks about a

serious subject. This is that they should seize the day and death

saying that time is running down.

Cousin Kate is also a poem about love. In Cousin Kate the cottage

maiden fell in love with a Lord who made her p...

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...ullest. It also contrasts with his ‘vegetable love’.

“Slow-chapt pow’r”

Time is eating their life away with slowly grinding jaws.

“The iron gates of life”

This gate is preventing him form getting what he wants and because it

is so hard the only way that he will be able to knock it down is if

his mistress joins him.

The narrator uses the word ‘our’ a lot. He is trying to tell his

mistress that they are united as one. They’re a team and together they

can break down the gates and conquer time. He says

“Thus, thou we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run”

He uses personification once again. They cannot really make the sun

run but what he is trying to say is that they can use their time up

wisely by having as much fun as possible, in doing this time will go

by really quickly.