In "To His Coy Mistress" the speaker addresses his sweetheart and attempts to talk her into making love with him. He begins, in the first section, by explaining that he does not mind waiting, that her "coyness, lady, were no crime" if they had "but world enough, and time," (Marvell 803). The speaker elaborates, describing how "an hundred years should go to praise thine eyes" and "an age at least to every [other] part," (Marvell 803). All of these statements he makes assuming that he and his lover have an infinite amount of time to love each other. Moving forward, in the second section, the speaker reveals that this is certainly not so. He speaks of "time's winged chariot hurrying near" while his lady's "quaint honor turn(s) to dust", referring to the fading of youthful beauty as time passes by (Marvell 804). The speaker aims to make his love aware of the quick passage of time and how limited the time they have together is. Making this point, the speaker moves toward his overall goal, sex, in the third section. Incorporating simile, he urges that he and his mistress must "love like amorous birds of prey" before they lose "the youthful hue" they now possess (Marvell 804). He argues that they should make love now before the passage of time steals the gift of youth away from them. He reinforces his argument for passion now by saying, "though we cannot make our sun stand still . . . we will make him run," (Marvell 804). In other words, the two cannot stop the passage of time, but they can acknowledge it and act accordingly, which, the speaker argues, involves making love now.
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