<P> "To His Coy Mistress" is a metaphysical poem written by the English author and politician Andrew Marvell (1621--1678) either during or just before the English Interregnum (1649--60). It was published posthumously in 1681 . </P> <P> This poem is considered one of Marvell's finest and is possibly the best recognized carpe diem poem in English . Although the date of its composition is not known, it may have been written in the early 1650s . At that time, Marvell was serving as a tutor to the daughter of the retired commander of the New Model Army, Sir Thomas Fairfax . </P> <P> The speaker of the poem starts by addressing a woman who has been slow to respond to his romantic advances . In the first stanza he describes how he would love her if he were to be unencumbered by the constraints of a normal lifespan . He could spend centuries admiring each part of her body and her resistance to his advances (i.e., coyness) would not discourage him . In the second stanza, he laments how short human life is . Once life is over, the speaker contends, the opportunity to enjoy one another is gone, as no one embraces in death . In the last stanza, the speaker urges the woman to requite his efforts, and argues that in loving one another with passion they will both make the most of the brief time they have to live . </P> <P> The poem is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymes in couplets . The first verse stanza ("Had we ...") is ten couplets long, the second ("But ...") six, and the third ("Now therefore ...") seven . The logical form of the poem runs: if...but...therefore...</P>

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