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To His Coy Mistress And The Passionate Shepherd To His Love

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Life is a precious thing that only lasts for a limited time, so why not live life to the fullest while you are still alive? Carpe diem, Latin for “seize the day”, is a popular theme in literary works throughout history. Carpe diem poems are often used to claim a maiden’s “virginity” by appealing to the fear of death or by creating vivid imagery. “The Rubaiyat” by Edward Fitzgerald, “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell, and “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love” by Christopher Marlowe are poems that contain various elements of carpe diem poems. Through the usage of powerful imagery and figurative language works of Fitzgerald, Marvell, and Marlowe convince their audience that life is fleeting and they should live for the moment. In “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell the speaker uses powerful imagery to convince his mistress that life is too short to be coy. In the first stanza, Marvell tells his mistress that if there was enough time to he would individually explore her body and mind for hundreds of years before they would consummate their love because her beauty deserves that (1-20), but Marvell immediately changes his tone describing …show more content…
Marvell is reasoning that sexual pleasure is one of the best ways to combat the dread of impending death. Partaking in sexual, and other, pleasures while one is able is essential to avoiding regret and sadness towards the end of life. Compare this to Robert Herrick’s “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time” that reminds young virgins that are hesitant to engage in sexual activity that life is too short to hesitate in partaking in life’s finest pleasures. Herrick tells the virgins “Old Time is still a-flying;/And this same flower that smiles today/Tomorrow will be dying” (2-4) The body is only young once, and once the body ages activities that were pleasurable become harder to come

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