In this classic poem, "To His Coy Mistress," Marvell is
warning the woman he desires that if there were endless time available to him, he would
wait as she "plays hard-to-get" (as he sees it) and spend eternity worshipping her body,
but that such is not the case.
The hyperbole appears in the
amounts of time he would wait: loving her ten years before the Flood (during the time of
Noah in the Old Testament), until the Jews were converted to Christianity, worshipping
her for thousands of years. She deserves, he declares, no
less.
However, he exaggerates also the swiftness with which
time flies: "But at my back I always hear / Time's winged chariot hurrying near." His
expression brings to mind the ticking of a time bomb: that there is not enough time to
give her the adoration she deserves if they still want to be young enough to enjoy the
experience: so it must be now.
Hyperbole is present, too,
as he argues that at this rate, she can protect her virginity and honor until she dies
and her body turns to dust, but that she will find no satisfaction in death, as if death
will be upon them very soon. This is not the case, as we see in the next
stanza.
His closing argument is that they are now young,
and while this is so, and their passions rage, they should throw themselves into the
experience rather than drag along and waste time. He assures her that though they
cannot stop time, they can slow time down by enjoying each other
now.
(He is charmingly persuasive; it is to be wondered if
she "bought it.")
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