Andrew Marvell

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173954

To His Coy Mistress

Marvell's period: 17th century
Movement: Metaphysical poetry

Summary of the movement with the word doc:
A metaphysical poem is generally one that meditates on love and death, sometimes touching on religion and human frailty.  These poems tend to be realistic and are famous for their difficulty and obscurity.  When deciding if a poem is from the metaphysical movement, look for wit, irony, and paradox; wit usually pairs dissimilar objects together in a clever manner.  Stylistic choices seem easy and smooth.  There can be huge shifts in scale.  The poet usually talks about some deep philosophical stuff in the poems.

About this poem:
This poem definitely fits the metaphysical style.  The rhymes flow off the tongue and really fuel and show the speaker's thirst for this lady.  It comments on the shortness of human life and how death is so easily come by.  The speaker starts off talking about how if he could have all the time in the world with his lover, he would use every second, not rushing a thing.  But alas, he only has time enough to spew out this poem to convince her that they need to make love right now.  While they're young.  Someone needs to get this man some water.

So there's some clever comparisons in the talk about time and death, and some talk about love.  It could be difficult to understand if you don't catch the shift, or if you don't get that the talk of time is hypothetical.  Carpe diem for some philosophical stuff and deeper meaning, anyone?