To His Coy Mistress
by Andrew Marvell · 1681 · Čtení na 1 min · 46 řádků
“To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell is a poem about a speaker urging a woman to accept physical love before time and death end their chances. He begins by imagining unlimited time, with her finding rubies beside the Ganges while he waits by the Humber. In that world, he could spend centuries praising her beauty and let his love grow slowly like a plant. Then the mood darkens: time approaches in a winged chariot, and the grave threatens beauty, desire, and her preserved virginity. Finally, he urges them to act while they are young, comparing their passion to hungry birds of prey. They cannot stop the sun, he concludes, but they can make their brief lives more intense.
Co to znamená, řádek po řádku
Řádky 1 až 20: The speaker imagines a world with unlimited space and time, where the woman’s hesitation would be acceptable. Distant rivers, biblical time spans, and centuries spent praising her body make his patience seem enormous. His plantlike love would grow slowly. This extravagant praise establishes the generous courtship he claims he would offer if life allowed it.
Řádky 21 až 32: The word “But” overturns the fantasy. Time becomes a pursuing chariot, while eternity looks like an empty desert. The speaker imagines her beauty disappearing and worms reaching the body she has kept untouched. His own desire will also end. The dry joke about the grave turns privacy into something useless without life and physical affection.
Řádky 33 až 46: The speaker turns death’s threat into an argument for immediate pleasure. He presents the woman as youthful and willing, though readers hear only his voice. Birds of prey and forceful images of breaking through gates make desire seem active and fierce. The ending admits that time cannot stop, but imagines passion making it move at their pace.
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Tři otázky k zamyšlení
- How does the opening fantasy of unlimited time shape the speaker’s later argument for urgency?
- What effects do the images of the chariot, desert, worms, and grave have on the courtship?
- How does the speaker describe the woman’s desires, and what remains unknown without her own reply?
Zdarma na 3 měsíců
200 000+ klasických děl. Každý formát, na začátek zdarma.
e-knihy a 15minutová shrnutí, také jakákoli kniha vytištěná za výrobní cenu ve vydání s velkým písmem.
