To His Coy Mistress To His Coy Mistress "To His Coy Mistress" is a metaphysical poem written by the English author and politician Andrew Marvell (1621–1678) either during or just before the English Interregnum (1649–60). It was published posthumously in 1681. This poem is considered one of Marvell's finest and is possibly the best recognized carpe diem 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 New Model Army, Sir Thomas Fairfax. The speaker
Elegy XIX: To His Mistress Going to Bed mistress; however, since he is naked first, he places himself in a place of vulnerability. Bell notes that "male domination [was] fundamental to Donne's poetic and cultural inheritance. Not surprisingly, therefore, Donne's poems acknowledge the sexual stereotypes and gender hierarchy that subordinated early modern women to men...; however, his poems also dramatise the ways in which Donne challenged... the patriarchal polity and society into which [he was] born and died”. By supplying the reader with a metaphysical conceit that places the speaker over his mistress, but in a way that obviously shows his dependence on her, as well as providing