Marvell and women

Not long ago, I wrote a bit about John Donne. Next, it was Herbert´s turn. This time I feel obliged to write a few lines about Marvell and the reason is simply because the three of them belong to the so-called metaphysical poets that abounded in England back in the 17th century.

Although Marvell was not a Puritan , he was Milton´s friend. Books say that Milton wrote a great recommendation for the post of Assistant Latin Secretary for Marvell. They must have been bossom friends because there are quite a few critics who agree on the fact that Marvell pulled the strings so that Milton´s head would not end up in a basket  at a time when Charles II would have been very happy to do so.

Among the very many poems he wrote about women and the feminine gender, there are two that I´d like to mention: "To his Coy Mistress" and "The Definition of Love". I have chosen these two because they are very different in their content and approach. If in the first one the speaker tries to get a girl´s love  because life is short and there is no time to waste, in the second one he explains love in geometric terms; he uses very specific vocabulary such as lines, angles, parallel lines and the lovers are opposite poles.

Certainly,  two different approaches to deal with the same issue.

To his coy mistress

[...]

For Lady you deserve this State;
Nor would I love at lower rate.
But at my back I alwaies hear
Times winged Charriot hurrying near:
And yonder all before us lye
Desarts of vast Eternity.
Thy Beauty shall no more be found;
Nor, in thy marble Vault, shall sound
My ecchoing Song: then Worms shall try
That long preserv'd Virginity:

The Definition of Love

[...]

As Lines so Loves Oblique may well
Themselves in every Angle greet:
But ours so truly Paralel,
Though infinite can never meet.