TO HIS COY MISTRESS by Andrew Marvell

"Had we but world enough, and time,

This coyness, lady, were no crime.

We would sit down and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love's day;

Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain. I would

Love you ten years before the Flood;

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews."

Marvel starts his poem with an if-clause. He states that, if he and his woman had world and time enough, her coyness wouldn't be a crime. Is coyness a crime? In the poet's opinion it seems to be so, as it is seen it this first statement. The use of the hypothetical construction makes the reader understand the frustration of the speaking voice that is aware he hasn't enough time and space for his love, and that he will never have them, as mortal's time is not eternal. His beloved doesn't seem to understand that, and she keeps being coy without any clear motivation, wasting, so, the two lover's chance to live their passion.

From the 3^rd line, the poet starts to imagine possible situation that could happen if the two had those time and space they unfortunately don't have.

The man would sit and think about how to pass the day with his beloved, thing that he doesn't actually seem willing to do (he probably thinks that action would be more desirable).

The speaking voice says that while his beloved would collect rubies caught from an Indian river; he would, instead, complain by the tide of a small watercourse in England. This statement, beside creating an exotic atmosphere and offering the first example of the things that could happen if the lover "had but world enough",  emphasizes the preciousness and lack of interest or  hurry of the mistress (that would gather gems) in opposition with the unworthiness and dissatisfaction of the man.

Then the versifier makes another hypothesis. He explains what could happen if men's time were eternal. The speaking voice says that if time allowed the human beings to, he would love his woman ten years before the world's overflow, and let his mistress refuse him until the conversion of the Jews (ironical phrase to intend the end of time).

To conclude, the only reason for the man's disappointment is his awareness that time is fast running out.

It is noticeable the use of assonances and alliterations that are spread in the text. The register used by the poet is very high; the reader can understand, so, that the speaking voice is totally caught by the lady, as the title of the poem itself suggests with the choice made by the author of using the world "mistress", which implies a signification of ownership. In addition, the references to religion and biblical facts are vehicle to denote the strength and seriousness of the feeling sensed by the man.