" To His Coy Mistress," a poem by Andrew Marvell, generates an understanding of death and paradox through the expressive language of the speaker to the mistress. In the poem, he implements metaphors with hypothetical situations while describing his love for her in a timeless world. He clearly explains that he would love and adore her immensely, then suddenly changes his demeanor by acknowledging that a timeless world does not exist. This poem expresses appreciation for death and paradox through the demeanor, actions and words of the poet.

The speaker begins his serenade in the first stanza by stating "Had we but world enough, and time, / This coyness, lady, were no crime" (1-2). The speaker is informing his mistress that if he had all the time in the world, he would spend it adoring every part of her body. This quote in the poem foreshadows an appreciation of paradox for the reader since the speaker is talking of a timeless world that does not exist. The speaker tells the mistress how long his love will grow, and how vast it will become. He changes his tone after this stanza in order to ef

This poem is perhaps the beginning of a love story. While the speaker is desperately seeking her virginity, the mistress is reluctant to give him this gift until she hears worthy reasoning. She is the mistress; therefore, she has the ability to control whether or not she will allow the speaker to pursue his love for her. The use of paradox and death are the key factors that allow the reader to identify with both characters in this poem. The speaker's explanation of death at the mercy of time is indeed paradoxical. Death and paradox involving love can generate respect for the poem through the expressive examples used by the poet that relate to the reader.

The speaker resorts to another paradox of death to persuade her: "The grave's a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace" (31-32). This paradox explains death in a frightening but subtle way. He uses this line forcing her to think about the environment of a grave and the solitude that comes with death. People do not wish to think of their own grave therefore, the paradox of death in this quote is an unsettling one. According to Marvell's speaker, time cannot be

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 785
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)