Poetry Comparison on The Flea and To His Coy Mistress Essay -- Papers

Poetry Comparison on The Flea and To His Coy Mistress I would firstly like to begin on 'The Flea'. This poem is about a man that is trying to persuade a woman to have sex with him, by symbolically using a flea. The content of the poem is very much the same throughout the whole of the poem. In the first stanza, the poet is basically talking about how the flea represents their coming together and in the last two stanza's the poet tries to then persuade the woman to have sex by using different tactic's like guilt etc. To the end of the second stanza the woman whom is being seduced, kills the flea and is clearly stating that she will not go to bed with the poet. Following this he tries to tell her that it is cruel and unjust and a sin against God, and what she has done is wrong and there is also nothing wrong with sex before marriage. The poem is set in the 17th century and I think the poet feels very strongly about what he is saying, and takes it very seriously. I also think that the poem works very well with its comparison to the flea, and I think that the author has been very clever in what he has said. Secondly, I would like to talk about 'To his Coy Mistress'. This poem is very much the same as 'The Flea' and has many similarities. Again the poem is based upon a man trying to get a woman to go to bed with him, and is too set in the 17th century. The poem is split into three stanzas and each of them differs from the next, although still trying to get across the same message. In the first verse the poet is trying to flatter the woman by using complimentary language and words such as, "a hundred years should go to pra... ...s he proves to be less than adequate ' shimmying in & out every other day as though he owned the place'. He shows interest in only one thing and expects her to do all the work and 'weave the means of her own escape'. She is patient and encouraging at first, holding out hope that she might be able to guide him towards something at least a little closer to her idea of what a man should be like. However, he fails completely in this respect and she ends up speechless with frustration and tears herself in two. I think all in all when love is concerned in poetry nowadays it is a bit of a mockery and no one ever takes it that seriously. People think that love is something to be laughed at and never something to be admired. So I think love poems have changed a lot, although there are still some poets who have the right idea.