VCCS
Litonline Introduction to Literature
Page 8 of 15
English 112 (English Composition II)
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"To His Coy Mistress", by Andrew Marvell
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But at
my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found, Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try That long preserv'd virginity, And your quaint honour turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust. The grave's a fine and private place, But none I think do there embrace. Now therefore, while the youthful hue Sits on thy skin like morning dew, And while thy willing soul transpires At every pore with instant fires, Now let us sport us while we may; And now, like am'rous birds of prey, Rather at once our time devour, Than languish in his slow-chapp'd power. Let us roll all our strength, and all Our sweetness, up into one ball; And tear our pleasures with rough strife Thorough the iron gates of life. Thus, though we cannot make our sun Stand still, yet we will make him run.
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Hunt,
William Holman
The Hireling Shepherd
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Click the play button above to hear a reading of "To His Coy Mistress".
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For your convenience, all the writing questions from
this module have been placed into word processing files. Click on the link
that matches the word processor you have to put the file onto your
computer so you can save your answers and re-open the file on later pages
of this module. For now, once
you've read and listened to the poem, open the questions about it, again,
in the format that matches your word processor, save it to your desktop,
and type in your answers to the questions. Then minimize your word
processor window and go forward to the Commentary. Compare your answers to
this Commentary.