Analyzing Love Themes in Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 and Marvell's Poem

This essay undertakes a comparative analysis of the love themes presented in William Shakespeare's Sonnet 130 and Andrew Marvell's 'To His Coy Mistress'. The essay delves into Shakespeare's depiction of a more grounded, realistic love, contrasting with the conventional ideals of beauty, utilizing metaphors and similes to portray his mistress's beauty in a unique manner, emphasizing her humanity over idealized perfection. In contrast, the essay examines Marvell's poem, focusing on the theme of carpe diem and the urgency of physical love due to the constraints of time and mortality, highlighting his use of persuasive arguments and vivid imagery to encourage his mistress to embrace the present moment. The essay also considers the poets' distinct use of poetic devices, such as metaphors and sonnet structures, to convey their respective perspectives on love, ultimately revealing how both poems, while differing in their approaches, offer profound insights into the complexities and multifaceted nature of human relationships.

Running head: ENGLISH ESSAY
English Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENGLISH ESSAY
The aim of the following essay is to bring out the display of the love theme in two most
brilliant verses of the middle ages of English literature. The two poems are also written by two of
the stalwarts of British poetry. The poems are Sonnet no. 130 written by William Shakespeare
and To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell. Both these poems have depicted the theme of love
in their own ways. Different types of love have been discussed about in these poems by the
poets. The use of language is also sublime as well. Therefore, both these poems are wonderful
documents for depicting love between two individuals.
The first poem to discuss about is Sonnet no 130 by William Shakespeare. This poem
was published in the year 1609. A kind of spiritual love has been discussed by the poet to his
mistress. The concept of ideal or conventional beauty of the mistress has been brought out by
Shakespeare in brilliant ways (Kasar and Didem: 170). He has used several imageries of natural
objects to reflect his thought on the beauty of his mistress. Therefore, his description of love for
his mistress’s beauty has been vivid. He has compared the eyes of his mistress to that of sun and
this means that her eyes as glaring and beautiful like the Sun. All the feelings that the poet has
provided in this paper are completely positive and reflect the exquisite beauty of the mistress.
Here the love is unconditional and to some extent it is spiritual as well (Schiffer: 78).
In this poem, Shakespeare has used several rhetoric figures like similes and metaphors.
This is why the vivid descriptions of his love have reached to a deeper and more intimate level.
Manny other metaphors have been used in this poem as well (Kasar and Didem: 170). In this
poem Shakespeare has used metaphors of snow to compare with her breasts and her hair has
been compared to wires (Muir: 46). Thus, the blend of supreme physical and spiritual love has
been exceptional to describe her supreme beauty in this concern. These descriptions are
somewhat different in nature and context than that of Spenser and Sidney. His use of sonnet

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structure is different from octave and sestet as well. Here Shakespeare divides 14 lines into three
sections called quatrains into four lines and last two lines are called couplets (Paterson: 89). In
this poem the lips of Shakespeare’s mistress are compared with coral as it is deep red in color.
Another similarity has been noted in this scenario and i.e. of the color red is the color of love as
well. Therefore, this theme of love has been wonderfully depicted in this poem and his mistress
has been glorified (Schiffer: 78). Shakespeare must have read some other sonnets or love poems
before writing down this poem. In the case of Shakespeare, he did not glorify his mistress to be a
Goddess but only an ordinary human being.
However, her beauty was magnificent and it had similarities with many natural
phenomenons (Muir: 46). Shakespeare loved her mistress for only she was and not for any other
superficial reasons. This poem also worked as a mocking for other love poems in which poets
looked at their mistresses as a Goddess and almost worshipped them. This kind of spiritual
beauty is absent in the poems of Shakespeare but he has described the beauty of his love by using
natural objects as metaphors (Davidson: 30). He takes extreme delight in the smell of his
mistress’s perfumes. This is a very good feeling for his mistress as well (Paterson: 89). In the
couplet section of the sonnet, Shakespeare does not want to compare the beauty of his mistress
with anyone else since he believes she is rare and one of a kind for him. This generates a great
sense of love in the mind of the readers who believe that this sonnet is a timeless classic.
The second poem that will be analyzed on the theme of love is To His Coy Mistress
written by Andrew Marvell. This poem had been published in the year 1681, much later than the
death of Shakespeare in 1664 (Matz: 88). The theme of time and love is of immense significance
in this poem. Some critics say that this poem is a great example of implementing carpe diem
theme in literature. The theme of love in this poem is presented through bodily love between the

3ENGLISH ESSAY
two lovers. In this poem, the lover has explained that they do not have unlimited time so he can
go on to praise every organ of hers for a thousand years. He wanted to make love with her
because their union will make their love stronger and compact. It will be the purest form of love.
Though, there are slight differences in the approach to meaning of love by poets, they
both convey the need to give away love. If they delay in making love, it would surely mean a
waste of time for them (Matz: 88). Time always flies very fast and they cannot postpone the
occasion of making love as it is so important for them. In the line ‘Time’s wingèd chariot
hurrying near”, poet means to say that death is impending for individuals and no one knows
when it will come. Therefore, it will be important for them to make love and celebrate their love.
The poet feels there is no point in celebrating love if it is only vegetable love. Marvell wants her
lady love to get united just like “amorous birds of prey”. The metaphor of preying birds depicts
how thirsty the poet is for love (Marvell: 48). Then it becomes extremely evident for them to
achieve fulfilment. This show of physical love is the central theme of this poem from all aspects.
Marvell believes that his lady love is not soft towards him so they can be physically united.
Therefore, he urges her to get physically united that will fulfil their eternal love. He wants her
lady love to break her virginity and they have to become as one in this transient life.
The poet of To His Coy Mistress also believes that this shyness or coyness of the lover
would have not been any crime. Thus Andrew Marvell has created his logic in such a way that
no sensible woman would be able to turn down (Marvell: 48). He believes that they have to
enjoy this present day without thinking of future complications that might occur. He insisted
again and again that they must take the sexual pleasure of love so their life and love can become
more compact. In this way, this poem is way different than that Shakespeare had approached.
Marvell has gone on to lament the fact that their life span in this world is so short and it is

4ENGLISH ESSAY
impossible for them to waste any (Kennedy and Gioia: 78). She has to get out from her Puritan
thought process that maidenhood was a virtue for all human beings.
In the concluding section, it can be said that both poets, Shakespeare and Andrew
Marvell have used this theme of love in their respective poems. Therefore, it has been very much
evident that love can be viewed from different aspects to different people. Shakespeare has
described her ladylove through various similes and metaphors from nature for glorifying his
mistress. On the other hand, Marvell has urged for physical love to her mistress. Thus, both the
poems are extraordinary to their approach and portrayal of the theme is exquisite as well.

5ENGLISH ESSAY
References and Bibliography
Berthoff, Ann E. Resolved Soul: A Study of Marvell's Major Poems. Vol. 1291. Princeton
University Press, 2015.
Davidson, Heather, et al. "Shakespeare and the English Sonnet: A History." (2018).
de Mendoza Ibáñez, Francisco J. Ruiz, and María Asunción Barreras Gómez. "Time and
Cognition in Marvell’s “To his Coy Mistress”." Cognitive Semantics 1.2 (2015): 241-
260.
Ferguson, Margaret, Tim Kendall, and Mary Jo Salter. Norton anthology of poetry. WW Norton
& Company, 2018.
Kasar, Sündüz, and Didem Tuna. "Shakespeare in Three Languages Reading and Analyzing
Sonnet 130 and Its Translations in Light of Semiotics." Online Submission 5.1 (2017):
170-181.
Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Literature: An introduction to fiction, poetry, drama, and
writing. Ed. Dan Stone. Pearson, 2013.
Marvell, Andrew. " To His Coy Mistress" and Other Poems. Courier Dover Publications, 2016.
Matz, Robert. The world of Shakespeare’s sonnets: An introduction. McFarland, 2014.
Muir, Kenneth. Shakespeare's sonnets. Routledge, 2013.
Paterson, Don. Reading Shakespeare's sonnets: a new commentary. Faber & Faber, 2012.
Richmond, Hugh M. School of Love. Vol. 2365. Princeton University Press, 2015.

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Schiffer, James. Shakespeare's sonnets: critical essays. Routledge, 2013.