455:" (1915), and is often said to be an allusion to Marvell's poem. Prufrock says that there will be time "for the yellow smoke that slides along the street", time "to murder and create", and time "for a hundred indecisions ... Before the taking of a toast and tea". As Eliot's hero is, in fact, putting off romance and consummation, he is (falsely) answering Marvell's speaker. Eliot also alludes to the lines near the end of Marvell's poem, "Let us roll all our strength and all / Our sweetness up into one ball", with his lines, "To have squeezed the universe into a ball / To roll it toward some overwhelming question," as Prufrock questions whether or not such an act of daring would have been worth it. Eliot returns to Marvell in
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regret. In the second part of the poem, there is a sudden transition into imagery that involves graves, marble vaults and worms. The narrator's use of such metaphors to depict a realistic and harsh death that awaits the lovers seems to be a way of shocking the lady into submission. Critics have also noted the narrator's sense of urgency in the poem's third section, especially the alarming comparison of the lovers to "amorous birds of prey".
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and her resistance to his advances (i.e., coyness) would not discourage him. In the second stanza, he laments how short human life is. Once life is over, the speaker contends, the opportunity to enjoy one another is gone, as no one embraces in death. In the last stanza, the speaker urges the woman to requite his efforts, and argues that in loving one another with passion they will both make the most of the brief time they have to live.
194:
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483:", alludes to the passage of time and to the growth and decline of empires. In his poem, the speaker, lying on the ground at sunset, feels "the rising of the night". He visualizes sunset, moving from east to west geographically, overtaking the great civilizations of the past, and feels "how swift how secretly / The shadow of the night comes on."
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to that which I shall refer, and, like
Marvell, Le Guin's nature references are, as I want to argue, "pastoral" in a much more fundamental and interesting way than this simplistic use of the term." There are other allusions to the poem in the field of Fantasy and Science Fiction: the first book of
179:
The speaker of the poem starts by addressing a woman who has been slow to respond to his romantic advances. In the first stanza he describes how he would pay court to her if he were to be unencumbered by the constraints of a normal lifespan. He could spend centuries admiring each part of her body
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roughly quotes
Marvell in his 1983 poem "The Mouse," which describes the artistic and existential pressures of the awareness that time is finite. He expresses annoyance at the sentiment to seize the day, stating, "And at my back it seems to hear / Some winged curved chariot hurrying near. / What
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Some critics believe the poem is an ironic statement on sexual seduction. They reject the idea that
Marvell's poem carries a serious and solemn mood. Rather, the poem's opening lines—"Had we but world enough, and time/ This coyness, Lady, were no crime"—seems to suggest quite a whimsical tone of
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The line "I would Love you ten years before the Flood, And you should, if you please, refuse Till the conversion of the Jews. My vegetable love should grow Vaster than empires, and more slow." Is used as the preamble to part three of
532:(1946), spoken by the protagonist, pilot and poet Peter Carter: 'But at my back I always hear / Time's wingéd chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie / Deserts of vast eternity. Andy Marvell, What a marvel'.
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Until recently, "To His Coy
Mistress" had been received by many as a poem that follows the traditional conventions of carpe diem love poetry. Some modern critics, however, argue Marvell's use of complex and ambiguous
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and rhymes in couplets. The first verse paragraph ("Had we...") is ten couplets long, the second ("But...") six, and the third ("Now therefore...") seven. The logical form of the poem runs: if... but... therefore....
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In
Frasier (season 10, episode 9), Niles, who has recently had heart surgery, says: "Good health is not a competition. When you've heard time's winged chariot hurrying near, as I have, every day is a gift."
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poem in
English. Although the date of its composition is not known, it may have been written in the early 1650s. At that time, Marvell was serving as a tutor to the daughter of the retired commander of the
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with the lines "But at my back in a cold blast I hear / The rattle of the bones" (Part III, line 185) and "But at my back from time to time I hear / The sound of horns and motors" (Part III, line 196).
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contains the line, "If he's content with a vegetable love that would certainly not suit me..." in reference to the aesthete protagonist affecting to prefer the company of flowers to that of women.
584:, in which the main character finds a note she believes may be from her husband's mistress. In several scenes, the two Marvell poems are alluded to, quoted, and sometimes directly discussed.
614:"Le char ailé du Temps" (Time's winged chariot) is the French translation (by Bernard Sigaud, 2013) of a short story by Nina Allan (2009), whose original title is just "Time's Chariot".
327:). The phrase is used as a title chapter in Andreas Wagner's pop science book on the origin of variation in organisms, "Arrival of the Fittest". The verse serves as an epigraph to
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about a love affair between two ghosts in a graveyard. The latter phrase has been widely used as a euphemism for the grave, and has formed the title of several mystery novels.
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495:, who is in a confused mood of desperation, lack of orientation, irresolution and indecision. (Prentice Hall 1976, Chapter 31, p. 266). This line is also quoted in
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434:, set in a distant future in which the earth is dominated by plant life, opens with "My vegetable love should grow / vaster than empires, and more slow."
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with "I do have worlds enough and time / to spare an hour to find a rhyme / to take a week to pen an article / a day to find a rhyme for ‘particle’."
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Many authors have borrowed the phrase "World enough and time" from the poem's opening line to use in their book titles. The most famous is
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At least two poets have taken up the challenge of responding to
Marvell's poem in the character of the lady so addressed.
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quotes "But at my back I always hear / Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near", through his character
Professor Burris in
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The line "A fine and private place, but none, I think, do there embrace" appears in
Stephen King's novel
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The poem, along with
Marvell's 'The Definition of Love', is heavily referenced throughout the 1997 film
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One of the Flavia de Luce novels by Alan Bradley is titled “the Grave’s a Fine and Private Place”.
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notes the debt of this story to Marvell, "whose complex and allusive poems are of a later form of
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is a 1994 independent gay-themed romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Eric Mueller.
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The line "My vegetable love should grow / Vaster than empires, and more slow" is quoted by
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This poem is considered one of Marvell's finest and is possibly the best recognised
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World Enough and Space-Time: Absolute versus Relational Theories of Space and Time
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05x05 — Excluding and Abstemiousness. Queer As Folk Transcripts. Forever Dreaming
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quotes the line "Had we but world enough, and time" in season 5 episode 5 of
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challenges the perceived notions of the poem. It as well raises suspicion of
681:(Second ed.). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp. 21–22.
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reprises his role as Sulu after being lost in a rift in time. The title of
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825:"An Ode to Multiple Universes - Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki"
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World Enough and Time: Successful Strategies for Resource Management
222:. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed.
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The phrase "there will be time" occurs repeatedly in a section of
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337:'s most famous book. It is also the title of an episode of
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Worlds Enough & Time: Five Tales of Speculative Fiction
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and deludes the reader with its inappropriate and jarring
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The line "deserts of vast eternity" is used in the novel
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Lee, Michelle. "To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell."
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The same line appears in full in the opening minutes of
79: But at my back I always hear
882:", by Archibald MacLeish, at the Poetry Foundation
730:. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2008. 171-282.
471:, by Virginia Woolf, which was published in 1928.
155:(1649–60). It was published posthumously in 1681.
809:Rich Erlich: Study Guide for Ursula K. Le Guin's
539:impudence! What conceit! / I really was fed up."
325:World Enough and Time: The Life of Andrew Marvell
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743:Person, James E. "Andrew Marvell(1621-1678)."
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749:Gale.cengage.com: Literature Criticism Online
732:Gale.cengage.com: Literature Criticism Online
565:The song "Am I alone and unobserved?" in the
151:(1621–1678) either during or just before the
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747:. Detroit: Gale Research, 1986. 391-451.
703:. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1990.
701:The Oxford Authors Authors Andrew Marvell
238:Learn how and when to remove this message
123:And tear our Pleasures with rough strife,
305:World Enough and Time: A Romantic Novel,
73:And the last Age should show your Heart.
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129:Stand still, yet we will make him run.
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745:Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800
383:Also in the field of science fiction,
117:Than languish in his slow-chapt pow'r.
31:We would sit down, and think which way
950:
391:-nominated short story whose title, "
119:Let us roll all our Strength, and all
107:And while thy willing Soul transpires
99:The Grave's a fine and private place,
91:My echoing Song: then Worms shall try
89:Nor, in thy marble Vault, shall sound
65:Thine Eyes, and on thy Forehead Gaze.
33:To walk, and pass our long Loves Day.
648:To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time
187:
113:And now, like am'rous birds of prey,
95:And your quaint Honour turn to dust;
81:Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near:
49:Love you ten years before the Flood:
41:Should'st Rubies find: I by the Tide
851:"'Carpe Diem' in 46 Immortal Lines"
453:The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
307:about murder in early-19th-century
127:Thus, though we cannot make our Sun
63:A hundred years should go to praise
61:Vaster than Empires, and more slow.
51:And you should if you please refuse
13:
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805:"Ursula Le Guin and Pastoral Mode"
105:Sits on thy skin like morning dew,
101:But none I think do there embrace.
87:Thy Beauty shall no more be found,
29:This coyness, Lady, were no crime.
27:Had we but World enough, and Time,
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319:), a science-fiction collection (
111:Now let us sport us while we may;
109:At every pore with instant Fires,
67:Two hundred to adore each breast:
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323:), and a biography of the poet (
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125:Thorough the Iron gates of Life.
121:Our sweetness, up into one Ball:
75:For Lady you deserve this State;
69:But thirty thousand to the rest.
996:List of works by Andrew Marvell
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773:His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell
675:(1956). MacDonald, Hugh (ed.).
115:Rather at once our Time devour,
77:Nor would I love at lower rate.
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71:An Age at least to every part,
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360:finale. It is the title of a
259:Critical reception and themes
59:My vegetable Love should grow
1081:Poems published posthumously
926:"To His Coy Mistress" (text)
811:The Word for World Is Forest
442:An Ode to Multiple Universes
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83:And yonder all before us lye
7:
940:public domain audiobook at
803:, November 1975) - online:
775:, Australian Poetry Library
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395:", is taken from the poem.
347:series 2, and of part 1 of
218:the claims made and adding
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97:And into ashes all my Lust.
53:Till the Conversion of the
16:1681 poem by Andrew Marvell
10:
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529:A Matter of Life and Death
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85:Deserts of vast Eternity.
1076:Poetry by Andrew Marvell
785:Wagner, Andreas (2014).
604:The Time Traveler's Wife
419:A Fine and Private Place
284:Allusions in other works
859:The Wall Street Journal
801:Science Fiction Studies
678:Poems of Andrew Marvell
380:also echoes this line.
344:The Diary of River Song
250:The poem is written in
47:would complain. I would
787:Arrival of the Fittest
339:Big Finish Productions
147:author and politician
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896:The Weather of Words,
631:World and Time Enough
558:in the last entry of
363:Star Trek New Voyages
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567:Gilbert and Sullivan
556:William S. Burroughs
468:Orlando: A Biography
377:Time Enough for Love
1034:Upon Appleton House
1027:To His Coy Mistress
937:To His Coy Mistress
880:You, Andrew Marvell
763:, Poetry Foundation
751:. Web. 20 Oct 2011.
734:. Web. 20 Oct 2011.
654:on the same subject
512:The Ultimate Melody
480:You, Andrew Marvell
153:English Interregnum
137:To His Coy Mistress
22:To His Coy Mistress
892:On Becoming a Poet
609:Audrey Niffenegger
524:Emeric Pressburger
502:A Farewell to Arms
475:Archibald MacLeish
372:Robert A. Heinlein
366:fan episode where
333:, literary critic
301:Robert Penn Warren
203:possibly contains
169:Sir Thomas Fairfax
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385:Ursula K. Le Guin
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900:Mark Strand
595:Moving Mars
449:T. S. Eliot
290:Annie Finch
1071:1681 poems
1060:Categories
1013:The Garden
687:1058125608
659:References
536:Primo Levi
492:Walden Two
406:James Kahn
397:Ian Watson
350:Doctor Who
212:improve it
160:carpe diem
590:Greg Bear
560:his diary
499:'s novel
477:'s poem "
428:'s novel
416:'s novel
358:Series 10
294:A.D. Hope
266:metaphors
216:verifying
184:Structure
942:LibriVox
642:See also
573:Patience
570:operetta
505:, as in
431:Hothouse
401:pastoral
387:wrote a
309:Kentucky
175:Synopsis
894:, from
855:wsj.com
330:Mimesis
274:imagery
210:Please
145:English
139:" is a
978:Poetry
864:17 May
834:5 June
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45:Humber
1005:Poems
618:Brian
607:, by
354:'
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989:List
866:2015
836:2019
705:ISBN
683:OCLC
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