In writing poetry, poets use a number of archetypical images and symbols to develop an attitude that they desire the speaker to portray. The symbols allow the reader to interpret more than what is literally before them by making their own conclusions by pulling together what is meant on a deeper level in result it makes the attitude of the speaker emit stronger. In the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell, Marvell uses archetypical images and symbols to reveal the attitude the speaker has toward his mistress.
The poem begins and seems to have the speaker professing his love to this woman, however, right at the beginning he starts by saying, "Had we but world enough, and time- This statement makes all of what he says no matter how beautiful or great the things he says or will do it is only if he had the time therefore he is taking everything back before it is given. The title, which is an apostrophe, even shows the reader insight to what the poem is going to consist of because the mistress is said to be "coy," that is, strategically withholding like playing hard to get which is what the archaic meaning is, however now it is referred to as one who is shy. The poem is written in couplets probably in order to show that it is about the couple, speaker and mistress, like some many of the traditional love poems are but this poem is not making the use of the traditional style paradoxical. The second line of the poem which reads, "This coyness, lady, were no crime- is saying that she is committing a crime in his eyes by not falling for him and playing hard to get in result wasting his time. The speaker tries to glorify the love they would share together by setting an exotic location such as the "Indian Ganges" where one can find marvelous treasures like "rubies." By creating this alluring atmosphere, he makes his life with his lady a day in luxury, trying to entice her to given in to his thought charming ways.
