Andrew Marvell"To His Coy Mistress"

Everlasting Love


Andrew Marvell was known for his work with carpe diem poetry. His poem entitled “To His Coy Mistress” is an interesting example of the carpe diem style Marvell used. In “To His Coy Mistress” Marvell makes use of allusion, metaphor, and brilliant imagery in order to express a mood of everlasting love and defying the boundaries of time. Other poems such as “Corinna’s Going A-Maying” by Robert Herrick are along the same lines as Marvell’s carpe diem poetry. However, there are some important differences to be noted.
Herrick’s poem stressed the importance of time and making use of it, similar to the way Marvell did. However, Herrick’s poem differed in that he used many springtime images, and references. For example, “Each flower has wept and bowed toward the east…”(line 7) and “The dew bespangled herb and tree,”(line 6) reflects Herrick’s use of springtime images. Also, all through the poem Herrick made reference to the...