"Coy Mistress" mini essay

Andrew Marvell writes with a clever sense of diction in his poem "To His Coy Mistress". The choice of words that Marvell decides to utilize creates an interesting tone shift from the beginning of the poem to the end, allowing the poem's meaning to change through each stanza. Marvell starts off the poem with serene and comforting words, initially wooing the reader to make him or her believe that the poem is a soothing love poem. Thus, Marvell goes on into depth about how eternal and beautiful his love is for the "coy mistress". However, in the 2nd stanza, the diction changes the tone and point of the poem, as Marvell states: "then worms shall try / That long preserv'd virginity, / And your quaint honour turn to dust, / And into ashes all my lust." After successfully luring in the reader, Marvel cleverly changes the tone of the poem by utilizing words that are everything but serene. This effect, however, is not caught by many readers because the serenity and the soothing sound of the 1st stanza so efficiently lures the reader in, causing the reader to lose his or her focus from the diction and tone of the poem. Moreover, Marvell continues to change the tone by adding even more harsh words, such as "prey", "devour", "tear", and "rough" in the 3rd stanza. Such jarring words juxtapose the initial tranquil and engaging 1st stanza, changing the meaning of the poem from love being eternal to time is running out. Therefore, Marvell masterfully creates a shift in tone throughout the poem by carefully selecting intimate, meaningful words.