"To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell Quiz

Answer: Ganges

The Ganges suggests all the wealth and the mystery of the East. The finding of rubies is also a suggestion of how precious she is to him. It would be appropriate that one so beautiful should find things so beautiful in such an exotic setting. Rubies were once considered to be capable of preserving virginity.

But in spite of the flattery here his argument is that they do not have this time available.

Answer: Humber

The choice of the Humber could possibly be for two reasons. It is a river known well by Marvell because he was born in Yorkshire and attended school in Hull. In contrast to the "Ganges" it also represents all that it homely and familiar. He is humble and ordinary and she is extraordinary and exotic. However, his complaint would be that his love has not been requited.

Answer: The Flood

"I would
Love you ten years before the Flood".
He is saying that if time were not a problem he would set the widest time limits for them to admire each other before they consummated their passion. She would, for example, be able to hold him off,
"Till the Conversion of the Jews".

Answer: vegetable

One interpretation that critics have placed upon this line is that he is trying to suggest that his love will increase in size like the growth of a vegetable but that it will not necessarily therefore increase in quality.

Answer: Her hair.

He declares he would spend one hundred years praising her eyes and gazing at her forehead, two hundred praising each breast and he would spend an age on each part of her. This is following the traditional conventions of love poetry yet the whole poem is making a mockery of the conventions and suggesting that they don't have time for such ritualised courtship.

Answer: Thirty thousand.

Having just mentioned her breasts in the previous line most critics consider that Marvell was referring directly to her other sexual organs when he allocated "thirty thousand" to "the rest". It also fits in with the slightly mocking tone about the conventions of the lover making an elaborate homage to his lady's list of beauties.

Answer: winged

The image of a chariot flying along behind them, ready perhaps to knock them down and kill them, is particularly effective. It is probably an allusion to the classical idea of Phoebus, the sun-god, making his journey across the heavens.

Answer: Worms

It is a particularly horrifying image that he uses. The second section of the poem introduces many frightening ideas such as "Time's winged chariot", the deserts of eternity and the marble vault. They will not be able to embrace each other once they are in their graves.

Answer: The morning dew.

"Now therefore, while the youthful hue,
Sits on thy skin like morning dew."
It is an image of beauty but also of the transitory nature of beauty. The morning dew will soon be gone, the softness and clearness of her complexion will disappear and their youthfulness and passion will soon pass. The "Now" at the beginning of this final section introduces an additional note of urgency to his persuasions.

Answer: birds of prey

"Now let us sport us while we may;
And now, like am'rous birds of prey."
The savagery of the passion that he wants her to give in to is conveyed by this image. The repetition of the word "now", for the third time in this section, conveys once again the increasing immediacy of his demands. It also links with the word "devour" to convey the energy and the violence of their consummation.