How do the poems we have studied argue the differences between love and lust?(includes To His oy Mistress,The Relic,The Flea,The Clod and The Pebble)
How do the poems we have studied argue the differences between love and lust?
'...then worms shall try
That long-preserved virginity:
And your quaint honour turn to dust;
And into ashes all my lust.' - To His Coy Mistress
These four lines summarise Marvell's thoughts, both on love and on the subject of his lady's refusal to '...embrace...' him. The way he attacks her obvious honour with savage diction such as '...lust...' and '...quaint honour...' is crude and unkind, and leads the reader to believe he has very little regard for the feelings of his mistress. From the words '...long preserved...' we surmise that he believes she has been keeping her virginity needlessly for a long time. Mockingly, Marvell conjures a grotesque image of '...worms...', which will eventually '...try...' the long-preserved virginity. He quips about how his '...lust...' will turn to ashes. The use of the word '...lust...' seems to prove just how selfish his feelings really are.
'To His Coy Mistress' is typical of a metaphysical poem, as it explores several profound ideas, love and sexuality, how shallow and transitory pleasure really is, and in the third part in particular how it is important to live for the day, 'Rather at once our time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapped power.'
Also typical of a metaphysical poem is the way in which Marvell explores man's relationship with the afterlife, and states that after living there is nothing but 'Deserts of vast eternity', a very controversial idea for the seventeenth century when there was still a great deal of emphasis in society upon religion, and in particular the prospect of an afterlife. In challenging this, Marvell is challenging something fundamental to the beliefs of many of his contemporaries.
Marvell describes the grave as being '...a fine and private place.' In...
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