Analysis Of Sharon Olds 'Poem Last Night'

In Sharon Olds poem Last Night we see passionate love unfolding in the speaker’s sexual experience. However, in Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress passionate love is what the speaker is asking his mistress to partake in. Where we see a frenzied tempo in Last Night, Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress starts by seducing his mistress in a patient and gentle manner with: “Had we but world enough, and time” (line 1). Marvell explicates that his mistress’ effected shyness wouldn’t be a crime if they had all of the time in the world and that they could do anything they like with that time: “This coyness, lady, were no crime / We would sit down, and think which way / To walk, and pass our long love’s day” (lines 2-4). However, the speaker is exclaiming that

Nevertheless, the speaker is using fake flattery in expressing that he would spend all of this time on different parts of his mistress’ body. This paradigm makes the speaker appear insincere, rendering the notion of love merely a mocking joke. Conversely, in Last Night, the speaker never came off as insincere, nor did she make love seem like a mockery. The succeeding four lines of flattery in To His Coy Mistress reveal the true irony of the speaker: An age at least to every part, And the last age should show your heart. For, lady, you deserve this state, Nor would I love at lower rate (Marvell, 17-20).

The speaker is pronouncing that this is what he would do if he had all of the world and time, however, this is an ironic lie since they certainly do not possess all of time or the world. Correspondingly, Last Night has similar irony when the speaker states “enormous, without language” (8), because she is claiming that she cannot describe the indescribable, however, the poem lucidly demonstrates the