Poetry Blog 2

Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" poem seems to be about a man attempting to convince a woman to sleep with him. Through the use of many allusions, Marvell is able to praise the woman's beauty. Then, after much flattery the poem shifts with "But at my back I always hear/Time’s wingèd chariot hurrying near". This is the beginning of the poet's underlying message of seizing opportunities while you still have time. The poem is about the passage of a life time, as opposed to Archibals Macleish's "You, Andrew Marvell" which takes place in the span of one day as night overtakes the world one place at a time. The poems are similar in that there is an end. In "You, Andrew Marvell", the darkness is spreading across the globe, darkness most likely meaning death or an end. And in Marvell's poem, he refers to time on his back, obviously meaning there is an expiration on himself or her or both. But what I don't understand is the meaning of the allusion in Macleish's poem. I can'y pinpoint where the two poems are connected besides the fact that there is an ultimate ending. This poem can be seen as a poem showing the downfall of many civilizations in our history, so how is this relevant to Marvell's poem about love? Along with this misunderstanding of the connection betwixt the poems, I am failing to connect to either poem. Consider me a stranger in a strange land.