Textuality » 4A Interacting
But at my back I always hear
Time's winged chariot hurrying near;
And yonder all before us lie
Deserts of vast eternity.
Thy beauty shall no more be found,
Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound
My echoing song; then worms shall try
That long preserv'd virginity,
And your quaint honour turn to dust,
And into ashes all my lust.
The grave's a fine and private place,
But none I think do there embrace.
Now therefore, while the youthful hue
Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
And while thy willing soul transpires
At every pore with instant fires,
Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am'rous birds of prey,
Rather at once our time devour,
Than languish in his slow-chapp'd power.
Let us roll all our strength, and all
Our sweetness, up into one ball;
And tear our pleasures with rough strife
Thorough the iron gates of life.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run.
The suond and rhythm level
In the first stanza analyzed "Lust" and "dust" and "worms" "marble vault", "graves", "ashes" these words sound very formal, dark, and funereal. "
In the final stanza "Transpires," sounds like something fresh. "Sweetness" and "ball" sound playful and light. On the other hand "prey," "devour," "tear," "rough," and "strife sound darker, with darker meanings, too
He sounds calmer in the final couplet.
Thus, though we cannot make our sun
Stand still, yet we will make him run. (46)
We think that this sounds bright image and elegant, like a promise.
The rhime scheme is characterized by the frequent use of the rhiming cuoplets. This gives a faster and more involving rhythm.
Rhetorical level
With the personification of time "Time's winged chariot" linked with the enjambment of the previous line; Marvell creates a sense of the speed of time passing.
Further more The chariot is an example of metonymy. The chariot becomes a stand in for time. When the speaker hears the chariot behind him (which is all the time), he associates it with time.
Desert of vast eternity is an example of oximoron that focuses the attention on the distance between the poet and the mistress.
Then he makes a comparison between they and birds. This is a lustful image that is enhanced by the words willing soul and fires in the previous lines.
This make us understand that the poet can't wait to have her anymore.
At the end irony suggests a paradoxthe poet wants to be rid of time, but needs time in order to enjoy life.
Meaning level
The speed of time passing is the reason he cannot comply with her need for a long courtship. He tries to influence her by describing her behavior as "quaint" as in old fashioned and unnecessary.
The final section of the poem delivers the real message; carpe diem. Te speaker now describes the woman in terms of the heat of passion "soul transpires / at every pore with instant fires" a
His images of the sexual act seem rough he and describes their union as "sport".
The final rhyming couplet sums up the whole message . We can't stop the passage of time but let's use our time doing what we want.