"To His Coy Mistress" is a famous metaphysical poem written by Andrew Marvell, a 17th-century English

poet. The poem consists of three main sections, and each section explores a different aspect of the
speaker's argument to persuade his beloved to give in to his romantic advances. Let's go through the
poem line by line to provide a comprehensive explanation:

**Section 1: Lines 1-20**

**Line 1:** "Had we but world enough and time,"

Explanation: The speaker starts by imagining an ideal scenario in which they had all the time in the
world.

**Line 2:** "This coyness, lady, were no crime."

Explanation: The speaker addresses his beloved as "lady" and tells her that her hesitance or shyness
(coyness) would not be a wrongdoing or a sin in such an ideal world.

**Line 3:** "We would sit down, and think which way

To walk, and pass our long love's day."

Explanation: The speaker suggests that if they had enough time, they could leisurely plan how to spend
their long-lasting love together.

**Line 4:** "Thou by the Indian Ganges' side

Shouldst rubies find; I by the tide

Of Humber would complain."

Explanation: The speaker uses hyperbole to portray the vastness of the imagined world. He says that his
beloved could find rubies by the Ganges River in India, while he would be content complaining by the
Humber River, implying that they could explore and enjoy different places together.

**Line 5:** "I would Love you ten years before the Flood,

And you should, if you please, refuse

Till the conversion of the Jews."

Explanation: The speaker exaggerates further, claiming that he would love her for an extended period,
even going back in time to the biblical flood. He humorously suggests that she could reject him until the
hypothetical future event of the conversion of the Jews, which emphasizes the idea of infinite time.

**Line 6:** "My vegetable love should grow

Vaster than empires and more slow;"

Explanation: The speaker compares his love to a "vegetable love" that would grow gradually but
immensely, surpassing even great empires in its vastness.

**Line 7:** "An hundred years should go to praise

Thine eyes, and on thy forehead gaze;"

Explanation: He claims that he would spend a hundred years praising and admiring her eyes and looking
at her forehead.

**Line 8:** "Two hundred to adore each breast,

But thirty thousand to the rest;"

Explanation: The speaker uses hyperbolic numbers to suggest that he would devote an extensive
amount of time adoring every part of her body, emphasizing the vastness of his affection.

**Line 9:** "An age at least to every part,

And the last age should show your heart."

Explanation: He claims that he would spend an entire age exploring and appreciating every part of her,
even her heart.

**Line 10:** "For, lady, you deserve this state,

Nor would I love at lower rate."

Explanation: The speaker asserts that the lady deserves this level of devotion and love, and he wouldn't
settle for anything less.

**Section 2: Lines 21-32**

**Line 21:** "But at my back I always hear

Time's wingèd chariot hurrying near;"

Explanation: The tone shifts in this section as the speaker introduces the concept of time's inevitable
passage. He uses a metaphor of time as a winged chariot that is always approaching, implying that they
do not have the luxury of infinite time.

**Line 22:** "And yonder all before us lie

Deserts of vast

eternity."

Explanation: The speaker paints a picture of the future as an empty expanse of vast eternity, suggesting
that they will eventually face an empty and lonely existence if they do not seize the present.

**Line 23:** "Thy beauty shall no more be found,

Nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound"

Explanation: The speaker warns that her beauty will eventually fade and that the echoes of her voice will
not be heard anymore once she is buried in a marble tomb.

**Line 24:** "My echoing song; then worms shall try

That long-preserved virginity,"

Explanation: He suggests that after her death, worms will consume her body and take away her
preserved virginity, signifying the loss of her physical beauty and purity.

**Line 25:** "And your quaint honor turn to dust,

And into ashes all my lust:"

Explanation: The speaker implies that her sense of honor and his desires will both become meaningless
and perish over time.

**Line 26:** "The grave's a fine and private place,

But none, I think, do there embrace."

Explanation: The speaker acknowledges that the grave is a peaceful and private resting place, but he
also points out that no physical intimacy or love can be experienced there.

**Section 3: Lines 33-46**

**Line 33:** "Now, therefore, while the youthful hue

Sits on thy skin like morning dew,"

Explanation: The speaker advises her to take advantage of her youthful beauty, comparing it to morning
dew, which is delicate and short-lived.

**Line 34:** "And while thy willing soul transpires

At every pore with instant fires,"

Explanation: He suggests that her passionate desires and willingness are evident in her every action.

**Line 35:** "Now let us sport us while we may,

And now, like amorous birds of prey,"

Explanation: The speaker urges her to enjoy themselves and engage in physical pleasure while they still
can, comparing them to eager birds of prey.

**Line 36:** "Rather at once our time devour

Than languish in his slow-chapped power."

Explanation: He argues that it is better to consume their time together and make the most of it, rather
than passively wasting away as time slowly wears them down.

**Line 37:** "Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,"

Explanation: The speaker suggests that they should combine all their physical and emotional strength, as
well as their sweetness, into one passionate and intense moment.

**Line 38:** "And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Through the iron gates of life:"

Explanation: He urges them to pursue their pleasures forcefully, tearing through the barriers and
limitations imposed by life.

**Line 39:** "Thus, though we cannot make our sun

Stand still, yet we will make him run."

Explanation: The speaker acknowledges that they cannot stop time from moving forward, but they can
make it seem to go faster by filling it with intense moments of love and pleasure.

**Line 40:** "If they be two, they are two so

As stiff twin compasses are two;"

Explanation: The speaker compares their love and unity to two stiff legs of a compass, which are joined
at the top and always point in the same direction, suggesting their unbreakable connection.

**Line 41:** "Thy soul, the fixed foot, makes no show

To move, but doth if th' other do."

Explanation: He suggests that her soul, like the fixed foot of the compass, remains steady while he, like
the other leg, moves and acts in response to her.

**Line 42:** "And though it in the center sit,

Yet, when the other far doth roam,

It leans and hearkens

after it,"

Explanation: The speaker suggests that even though her soul remains in the center, when his actions and
desires wander, her soul leans and follows after him.

**Line 43:** "And grows erect, as that comes home."

Explanation: He implies that her soul becomes engaged and responsive when he returns to her.
**Line 44:** "Such wilt thou be to me, who must,

Like th' other foot, obliquely run;"

Explanation: The speaker expresses that she will play a similar role for him, being like the other foot of
the compass, running obliquely or at an angle, always connected to him but in a different direction.

**Line 45:** "Thy firmness makes my circle just,

And makes me end where I begun."

Explanation: He concludes by saying that her steadfastness and presence complete his life's circle,
bringing him back to where he began, implying that their love is a fulfilling and harmonious cycle.

This poem explores themes of love, time's passage, mortality, and the urgency to seize the present
moment. The speaker uses vivid imagery, metaphors, and hyperbolic language to present a passionate
argument for the embrace of physical pleasure and love before time and mortality take their toll.