Alliteration In Andrew Marvell's To His Coy Mistress

Andrew Marvell’s “To his coy mistress” explores his eloquent pleading to his lover for fulfilling the sexual desire. The poem beautifully encompasses many literary devices such as assonance, hyperbole, allusions, alliteration, etc. It follows a rigid iambic tetrameter rhythm with rhythmic couplets. The poet presents and defends his three arguments in three different stanzas. He creates a utopia at the beginning which develops into the darker sides of mortality as the poem proceeds. Many images are bizarre and make the reader ponder upon the true essence of the poem. The similes and metaphors are often eccentric, incorporating unusual and hilarious comparisons. The title of the poem is carefully chosen to depict the theme of the poem. The title “To his coy mistress” is in the third person although the poem is addressed by the poet himself. “Coy” means shyness or modesty which is meant to be alluring. “Mistress” means a woman who’s had an affair. The title itself conveys a sense of powerfulness because mistress is the feminine word for the master. Therefore, “To his coy mistress” instantly tells the reader that the poem is based on the true love of the speaker towards his beloved, developing the nuances of the theme as the poem progresses. It explores a sense of vastness through a close-knit logical coherence in the poem. The poem is divided into three stanzas, each one establishing its own uniqueness. It makes it easier for the reader to interpret the meaning of the poem