Robert Herrick vs Andrew Marvell

Introduction

Robert Herrick’s, To the Virgins, to make much of Time and Andrew Marvell’s, To His Coy Mistress, both focus on a similar theme of carpe diem. This means that they both focus on seizing the day and taking advantage of the moment and not wasting any time. While both poems capture the idea of this theme; they do so in similar and different ways. The poems capture this idea by their use of diction, tone, and imagery.

Overview: Robert Herrick

In Herrick’s, To the Virgins, to make much of Time, Herrick is telling the virgins to go ahead and live life to the fullest. He is telling them to go ahead and live life now since time will make them age and the beauty that they once had will eventually disappear. Robert Herrick focuses solely on seizing the day and that stands out in the poem as each stanza builds on that idea.

Overview: AndrewMarvell

In Marvell’s To His Coy Mistress, Marvell is trying to convince his lover to sleep with him. He is rejected by her and he focuses on telling her that there is simply not enough time. He tells her that if he had time he would admire her beauty and that he would love her for ten years before the flood. He than tells her that he does not have the time because life is short and that they should be living life in the moment. Once they die they will not be able to have the same physical pleasures they need to enjoy each other in the present. This poem expresses the idea of seizing the day because the author focuses on the metaphysical concept of poetry.

Diction

Marvell uses a change in diction in, To His Coy Mistress, to prove his argument for his lover to sleep with him. The first stanza uses positive diction when he talks about how if he was given the time he would take his time with his lady. He says, “We would sit down, and think which way to walk, and pass our long love’s day” (Marvell 3-4). He is positive here saying that he would want to sit down with his lover and take his time. He would want to be able to learn with her and grow together as a couple instead of rushing into the relationship. He then uses negative diction in the second stanza. He tells his lover that there is no time and that they must take advantage of the time that they have. Lastly, in the third stanza he shifts to positive diction when talking about how they should sleep together and that if they seized the moment they would be able to fight against time.

Robert Herrick uses positive diction throughout the entirety of him poem To the Virgins, to Make much of Time. This can be seen when he says, “Then be not coy, but use your time, And while ye may, go marry” (Herrick 13-14). Herrick is telling the virgins that while they can they should marry and do all these things that are so great. He tells them to not waste time while they are beautiful and young.

Tone

The tone in To His Coy Mistress is serious as Marvell tries to convince his lover to sleep with him. He starts off the poem by saying, “Had we but world enough, and time… We would sit down, and think which way To walk, and pass our long love’s day” (Marvell 1). He starts off by telling his loved one that if they had the time he would use it to figure out how to truly love each other. This is one of the tones within the poem. Marvell amplifies this tone by creating a sense of him being rushed when he says, “But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near” (Marvell 21-22). Marvell’s serious tone is amplified by this because he is saying that time is coming to fast and that he and his lover need to enjoy each other now before it is too late. Marvell portrays this serious tone throughout this poem because of his desires to receive what he wants before time runs out.

Robert Herrick’s To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time; while serious has a more playful tone when he is telling the virgins to live life to their fullest. He starts off by telling them to “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today, Tomorrow will be dying” (Herrick 1-4). Herrick gives them wisdom from his experience when he tells them to gather their rosebuds while they still can. He describes that while a flower may be smiling today the next day it will be aging and decaying. He is encouraging the readers and the virgins to live life now and not wait since. His tone is less serious compared to Marvell’s work who is essentially forcing his lover to see his point of view about life.

Figurative Language

Andrew Marvell uses metaphors to help strengthen the idea of seizing the day. Marvell tells his loved one, “Times winged chariot hurrying near” (Marvell 22). Marvel uses the chariot to explain to his loved one that here is not much time for them to be together. He is using the chariot to express the inevitability of time and death. This is useful for Marvell since it allows him to draw a comparison that the reader can use to understand the idea of seizing the day. He also uses personification to represent his idea of seizing the day. The last couplet does this saying, “Thus we cannot make our sun stand still, yet we will make him run” (Marvell 45-46). Marvell is giving the sun a humanlike ability of being able to run. He does this to show that while he cannot stop the sun or time, he can at least fight back against it by seizing the opportunities with his lover.

Robert Herrick just like Andrew Marvell uses metaphors to help the idea of seizing the day. Herrick is comparing the sun to a lamp. Herrick says, “The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he’s a-getting, The sooner will his race be run and nearer he’s to setting” (Herrick 5-8). Here Herrick is saying that the sun lights up heaven like a lamp would light up an area. He then talks about the sun rising and then setting which could be compared to the way that life progresses through a process of existing then disappearing. This also uses personification with the sun being able to set, helping with the idea of seizing the day before time disappears.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Andrew Marvell and Robert Herrick both use similar tactics when it comes to presenting the theme of carpe diem. While Andrew Marvell’s diction is more varying, Herrick was more linear. Marvell’s tone is very serious while Herrick’s is more playful. Lastly, their use of metaphors and personifications are similar. While some tactics were the same we can see their individual character in each poem specifically when it comes to tone.

Works Cited

Herrick, Robert. “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time .” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, by Stephen Greenblatt et al., W.W. Norton Et Company, 2018, pp. 763–764.

Marvell, Andrew. “To His Coy Mistress.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, by Stephen Greenblatt et al., W.W. Norton Et Company, 2018, pp. 772–773.