Explanation / Comparison

            We all have the choice either to take advantage of time or allow time to take advantage of us; we make promises or do we not because promises are always made to be broken. These two ideas respectfully are from the literary works of authors Andrew Marvell and Christina Rossetti. In To His Coy Mistress, the opportunity of living life to the fullest or choosing to waste your time is supplied through symbolism. Coincidentally, in Promises Like Pie Crusts, the author uses simple examples of life's situations and symbolism to convey the true meaning of how often promises are broken.
             Using symbolism to express ideas makes it possible to visualize situations presented, and in the case of these two poems it makes time seem almost visible or real. Time is symbolized through a lover attempting to lure a woman into engaging in sexual relations with him. The idea that time is running out is declared throughout the poem, as time is the lover's excuse for wanting this sort of relationship. The very first line, "Had we but world enough, and time" brings out the focus of time directly. It is then reinforced through the following phrases such as "A hundred years should go to praise / Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze; / Two hundred to adore each breast, / But thirty thousand to the rest; / An age at least to every part." These lines symbolize the lack of time the lover has to show his mistress the adoration she is worthy of. While the symbolism of the poem "To His Coy Mistress" is part of the flow and is how the story is created, the symbolism of "Promises Like Pie Crusts" or should I say lack of symbolism in the first stanza is very straightforward. "Keep we both our liberties, never false never true", says blatantly how if both stay separate and no bond were made then they would never be false. I feel symbolism is the use of phrases and sentences to create a picture and or a vision greater that just the meaning of those words.