TO HIS COY MISTRESS From line 21 to 46 (PART 3)

After ending the reading of the composition, the reader is able to recognise the texts’ features. First of all, many particular sounds contribute to give meaning to the poem: at first, the reader notices that there are only RHYMING COUPLETS, except for four anomalous lines: 23-24 and 27-28. The final words, respectively “lie-eternity” and “try-virginity”, create two alternate rhymes. The poet aims at focusing on the terms try and lie: they both refer to earth (human and secular world) because they are linked to “deserts” and “worms” (the subjects). They clash heavily with the following terms “eternity” and “virginity”, that represent heaven and higher things.

In addition, there are many repetitions of words: at line 25 and 26 “thy” is repeated twice, then at lines 25, 26 and 27 the further repetition “shall” create a chain of repeated terms. At line 37 the word “us” appears twice; finally, the word “our” appears in each line, at lines 41, 42 and 43. It reinforces the concept of union, two people are involved and not only the single speaker. At lines 45-46 the repetitive sound “s” creates an alliteration starting from the end of line 45 and continuing until the beginning of the following line (sun / Stand still). It conveys the idea of stability, certainty. Finally, the words “still” and “him” create internal rhyme.

Word order is not always regular: indeed lines 23-24, 26-27 and 32 present altered constructions of the sentence. Lines 23-24: And yonder all before us lie / deserts of vast eternity (two adverbials of place – verb – subject). The correct order is: Deserts of vast eternity lie before us yonder all. Lines 26-27: Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound / my echoing song (…) (adverbial of place – verb – subject). It would be, in the correct order: My echoing song shall sound in thy marble vault. At last, at line 32 the sentence "But none I think do there embrace" presents the phrase “I think” in the middle instead of at the beginning.

Moreover, always at lines 26-27, the reader finds an enjambement. It is the same at line 41-42 and 45-46; the enjambement is created by the lack of pause (punctuation) that causes a continuation of a syntactic unit from one line to the next.

The poet uses figurative language to add meaning to the text: at line 22, for instance, he refers to a “winged chariot hurrying” in order to speak about TIME. The metaphor indicates the passing of time and his speed. At line 38 the similarity “like amorous birds of pray” is linked to the previous metaphor, and both of them make reference to birds and their qualities: they symbolise energy, freedom and art. Time and the two lovers are connected, since people depend on time, and they are compared to birds. An other similarity appears at line 34: “thy skin like morning dew”. The woman’s skin is compared to “dew”, it represents sweetness and freshness. Moreover, the poet draws the reader’s attention on her youth. The soft sensation at lines 33-34 is strongly opposed to the two following lines: they refer to “willing soul” and “instant fires”. The quoted references create contrast between external appearance (“skin”, line 34) and internal, private “soul” (line 35)--> oxymoron. The woman looks young and beautiful, and her outside-qualities reminds purity and innocence. On the other hand, her soul is “willing”, it feels passion. The theme of fire and passion, symbolised by “willing soul” and “fires”, is heavily opposed to the theme of water and freshness, characterised by the words “youthful hue”, at line 33, and “morning dew”. “Instant fires” refer to very strong attraction, and it belongs to the theme of fire.

A further opposition of term appears at line 41 and 42. “Strength” contrasts “sweetness”, and they are linked to the previous themes of passion and sweetness.

At lines 45 and 46 the poet exaggerates by using hyperbole: he claims that if they cannot do something impossible (“though we cannot make our sun / stand still”: they cannot stop sun), they will do something even more absurd (“yet we will make him run”).

In addition, the reader sees that sun is personified and the poet appeals to it by saying “him” instead of it. By writing the crazy proposal, the lover wants to state that even if life did not allow them to live their love, the man and his mistress would find a solution: obstacles of life won’t stop their feelings.