Time plays an important role in both To His Coy Mistress by Marvell Marvell and Loveliest of Trees by A.E. Housman. Marvell conveys people to enjoy pleasure such as having sex when we are still young and Housman persuades us to appreciate all the beauty in nature before we leave the world. While both authors intend to persuade the reader to make most out of their limited lives, they use a different tone, figurative language, and imagery in their poems to deliver their arguments.
First of all, both authors utilize a romantic tone in their poems but they have completely different tones after the first established tone. In Marvell’s poem, the romantic vision is carried out through imagery. The speaker claims that “ Love you ten years before the …show more content…
In Marvell’s poem, symbolism helps significantly in carrying out the theme of the poem. For instance, Marvell states “My vegetable love should grow/ vaster than empires, and more slow” (l.11-12). “Vegetable love” in this statement symbolizes the natural love that emerges and grows between the lovers shortly without hurry. Moreover, the reference to Indian Ganges symbolizes the virginity associated with the mistress while the Humber’s tide embodies the loss of innocence and beauty with age. These two symbolisms sets up a clear contrast between which the author idealizes the vision for fostering a “vegetable love” with his mistress while at the same time acknowledging it will only result in loss of innocence in “Humber’s tide” for his mistress. Furthermore, Marvell also uses lines “Thus, though we cannot make our sun/stand still, yet we will make him run.” (45-46) to reiterate and consolidate his argument. The metonymy used here, in which sun represents time, implies if we cannot stop time from passing away from us, why don’t we have sex now. The personification, in which to make the sun run, associated with its symbolic meaning, concludes the whole poem in a profound scheme, leaving interpretation about time to the readers. On one hand, Housman also uses symbolism in Loveliest of Trees to convey his thoughts. In the first stanza, he claims, “[the woodland ride] wearing white for Eastertide” (l.4). In this case, the author employs symbolism associated with personification to highlight the beauty and purity of spring, while at the same giving personify it to make it vividly presented. It also connects with Housman’s argument in which we should appreciate nature when we are still able to see its beauty. More importantly, the purity emphasized here links to the virginity of the mistress marked by Marvell Marvell.
First of all, both authors utilize a romantic tone in their poems but they have completely different tones after the first established tone. In Marvell’s poem, the romantic vision is carried out through imagery. The speaker claims that “ Love you ten years before the …show more content…
In Marvell’s poem, symbolism helps significantly in carrying out the theme of the poem. For instance, Marvell states “My vegetable love should grow/ vaster than empires, and more slow” (l.11-12). “Vegetable love” in this statement symbolizes the natural love that emerges and grows between the lovers shortly without hurry. Moreover, the reference to Indian Ganges symbolizes the virginity associated with the mistress while the Humber’s tide embodies the loss of innocence and beauty with age. These two symbolisms sets up a clear contrast between which the author idealizes the vision for fostering a “vegetable love” with his mistress while at the same time acknowledging it will only result in loss of innocence in “Humber’s tide” for his mistress. Furthermore, Marvell also uses lines “Thus, though we cannot make our sun/stand still, yet we will make him run.” (45-46) to reiterate and consolidate his argument. The metonymy used here, in which sun represents time, implies if we cannot stop time from passing away from us, why don’t we have sex now. The personification, in which to make the sun run, associated with its symbolic meaning, concludes the whole poem in a profound scheme, leaving interpretation about time to the readers. On one hand, Housman also uses symbolism in Loveliest of Trees to convey his thoughts. In the first stanza, he claims, “[the woodland ride] wearing white for Eastertide” (l.4). In this case, the author employs symbolism associated with personification to highlight the beauty and purity of spring, while at the same giving personify it to make it vividly presented. It also connects with Housman’s argument in which we should appreciate nature when we are still able to see its beauty. More importantly, the purity emphasized here links to the virginity of the mistress marked by Marvell Marvell.