Andrew Marvell: To His Coy Mistress – Reading & Analysis

Andrew Marvell "To his coy mistress". Reading & analysis. The art of seduction taught by a master!

Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" is one of the most famous seduction poems in English literature — but is it actually a logical argument? This analysis examines the poem's ...structure as a syllogism: "If we had enough time we could love slowly — but we don't — so let's make love now." Sounds reasonable. But is the logic actually sound?
Topics covered include the three-part structure, carpe diem, the irony and cruelty of the worms image, "vegetable love", "Time's wingèd chariot", and what "coy" actually means.

0:00 Introduction
0:11 The syllogism
1:18 The first stanza (a reading)
2:33 The first stanza (analysis)
3:30 The narrative voice & its object
4:26 "Coy"
5:01 Rhyme: "would" and "flood"
5:12 Meaning: "would" and "should"
6:06 A balance of opposites
7:27 What if...?
8:26 The first part of the syllogism
8:42 The second stanza (a reading)
9:29 The second stanza (analysis)
10:16 The second part of the syllogism
10:30 The third stanza (a reading)
11:36 The third stanza (analysis)
12:18 The complete syllogism
13:14 Back to "coy"
15:44 Humour and irony
16:44 Mockery
16:58 Shocking imagery
17:44 Conclusion

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