Time Tarries only for Those Who Use It

Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress":

Time tarries only for those who use it

Had we but world enough, and time, humankind could give Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" the age that it deserves. We would not hurry through, but pour over it at it's deserving rate. But, Time's winged chariot is so close behind, we can give only a fraction of the time it deserves. The speaker in "To His Coy Mistress" reasons with his mistress for consummation of their love. Yet, the speaker does not struggle out of pure lust. He argues for life, for victory over the temporality of this existence. "To His Coy Mistress" is more than persuasion to be intimate, it is also Marvell's battle to overcome humankind's finite life.

Marvell's speaker uses the first stanza of the poem to demonstrate all that his love could

do with the time that he does not have. The speaker does not lack the passion of other lovers, merely the patience. "Had we but world enough ,and time"(1), then, the speaker would take all the time it took to display his love. The mistress must use what little time she has; if not, both the speaker's and her lives are pointless. Marvell uses puissant river symbolism, " Indian Ganges.../Humber..."(5-7). The river is a classic symbol for the infinite continuance of life. Marvell employs the river to a dual meaning. First, the river represents the time that the speaker wishes he had. With that infinite time, he would withhold his love until the historic flooding of the world. Second, the river is lain in contrast to the finality of human death. The speaker does not have the time represented by the river. The speaker lacks the " hundred years should go to praise/ Thine eyes and on thy forehead gaze"(13-14). The speaker lacks not love or devotion; he simply lacks the time. The mistress deserves to have such a small part of her body, the forehead, adored for a century! The speaker would spend "An age at least to every part,/ And the last age should show your heart" (17-19). There is no end to the time the speaker would spend. Yet since so little time is to be had, the speaker must use time wisely, as must the mistress.

Marvell's speaker has established his desire to show his complete love; but as death approaches, he obviously cannot. The speaker realizes what little time he has to spend, but his mistress must understand as well. " But at my back I always hear/ Time's winged chariot hurrying near"(21-22). Death is one of this life's unavoidable experiences; not a question of if, but when. Time is the scarcest of all resources, and humanity is fast running out of it. When the sands of the hourglass run out, "Thy beauty shall be no more found/ Nor in thy marble vault shall sound/ My echoing song..." (25-27). There is nothing but death to be gained in waiting. Marvell did not choose the word "marble" merely for the beauty of marble. Marble is known to look similar to flesh; this use conjure the thought that flesh, unlike marble, decays and dies. Not only will the mistress die, but the speaker. His song cannot echo if he is not alive to sing it. " ...then the worms shall try/ That long preserved virginity"(27-28). This line is the culmination of this point. The worms, a phallic symbol, will be the ones to steal her sacred virginity. Being dead, she cannot even give herself. The loss of her virginity is a low, and depraved rape performed by devourers of carrion. As well, to throw something to the worms is to