Help with Marvell and Herrick!!

[miss_pink]

Hi.

Can anyone tell me the huge differences between Andrew Marvells poem "To His Coy Mistress" and Robert Herricks poem "Corinna's Going a-Maying"???

I know they are both carpe diem and seduction poems, but I can't see too many differences...

[slobone]

Oh dear, well if you can't see any difference between them you might be in the wrong class. But you could start by summarizing the arguments each poet uses to persuade his mistress. Also what kind of imagery they use. Where does that imagery come from?

[Pecksie]

I think the atmosphere in the two poems is very different. Herrick's is set in the context of the May celebrations and is very sensuous in its descriptions of nature; although it talks of death, it only does so at the end. Marvell's begins on a playful note, describing how he would woo his mistress if only he had a choice, but soon turns somber, with the image of the "wingèd chariot" lending it a sinister tone which is continued in the verses that follow.

Maybe you should try to read the poems not in terms of having to find differences, but for understanding and enjoyment, and then the different features of both works will become self-evident to you. In other words, read them for pleasure, not as an assignment!