Subscribe: by Email | in Reader

His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell -- A D Hope

Guest poem sent in by William Grey
(Poem #1567) His Coy Mistress to Mr. Marvell
 Since you have world enough and time
 Sir, to admonish me in rhyme,
 Pray Mr Marvell, can it be
 You think to have persuaded me?
 Then let me say: you want the art
 To woo, much less to win my heart.
 The verse was splendid, all admit,
 And, sir, you have a pretty wit.
 All that indeed your poem lacked
 Was logic, modesty, and tact,
 Slight faults and ones to which I own,
 Your sex is generally prone;
 But though you lose your labour, I
 Shall not refuse you a reply:

 First, for the language you employ:
 A term I deprecate is "coy";
 The ill-bred miss, the bird-brained Jill,
 May simper and be coy at will;
 A lady, sir, as you will find,
 Keeps counsel, or she speaks her mind,
 Means what she says and scorns to fence
 And palter with feigned innocence.

 The ambiguous "mistress" next you set
 Beside this graceless epithet.
 "Coy mistress", sir? Who gave you leave
 To wear my heart upon your sleeve?
 Or to imply, as sure you do,
 I had no other choice than you
 And must remain upon the shelf
 Unless I should bestir myself?
 Shall I be moved to love you, pray,
 By hints that I must soon decay?
 No woman's won by being told
 How quickly she is growing old;
 Nor will such ploys, when all is said,
 Serve to stampede us into bed.

 When from pure blackmail, next you move
 To bribe or lure me into love,
 No less inept, my rhyming friend,
 Snared by the means, you miss your end.
 "Times winged chariot", and the rest
 As poetry may pass the test;
 Readers will quote those lines, I trust,
 Till you and I and they are dust;
 But I, your destined prey, must look
 Less at the bait than at the hook,
 Nor, when I do, can fail to see
 Just what it is you offer me:
 Love on the run, a rough embrace
 Snatched in the fury of the chase,
 The grave before us and the wheels
 Of Time's grim chariot at our heels,
 While we, like "am'rous birds of prey",
 Tear at each other by the way.

 To say the least, the scene you paint
 Is, what you call my honour, quaint!
 And on this point what prompted you
 So crudely, and in public too,
 To canvass and , indeed, make free
 With my entire anatomy?
 Poets have licence, I confess,
 To speak of ladies in undress;
 Thighs, hearts, brows, breasts are well enough,
 In verses this is common stuff;
 But -- well I ask: to draw attention
 To worms in -- what I blush to mention,
 And prate of dust upon it too!
 Sir, was this any way to woo?

 Now therefore, while male self-regard
 Sits on your cheek, my hopeful bard,
 May I suggest, before we part,
 The best way to a woman's heart
 Is to be modest, candid, true;
 Tell her you love and show you do;
 Neither cajole nor condescend
 And base the lover on the friend;
 Don't bustle her or fuss or snatch:
 A suitor looking at his watch
 Is not a posture that persuades
 Willing, much less reluctant maids.

 Remember that she will be stirred
 More by the spirit than the word;
 For truth and tenderness do more
 Than coruscating metaphor.
 Had you addressed me in such terms
 And prattled less of graves and worms,
 I might, who knows, have warmed to you;
 But, as things stand, must bid adieu
 (Though I am grateful for the rhyme)
 And wish you better luck next time.
-- A D Hope
         (1907-2000)

An effective rejoinder to a great poem requires a poet of greatness, and one
who appreciates and respects the genius under attack. No poet was able to do
this more effectively than Australian poet A.D. Hope (1907-2000). In his
introduction to this rejoinder Hope commented:

  This most famous of all Marvell's poems is deservedly so. Yet it is a
  brilliant tour de force in which the poet's imaginative language triumphs
  over the fact that his arguments to the lady are a set of worn-out clichés,
  which were never very persuasive even when they were new -- but the lady can
  best speak for herself.

Marvell's most famous poem was an early contribution to Wondering Minstrels
(Poem #158). 'His Coy Mistress to Mr Marvell' was published in Hope's Book of
Answers (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1978), which includes a number of gems --
though none more brilliant than this Marvell parody. (It includes a fine parody
of Gerard Manley "Hop-skip-jump-kins" -- which I may submit at some future
time.) The power of Hope's language, and the range of genres which he
commanded, were immense. He is a poet of considerable stature not just within
Australia, but globally.

William

45 comments: ( or Leave a comment )

Alan Kornheiser said...

I'm sure I recall a contemporary reply to the poem, something about "if
shepherds could be trusted." Ring any bells?

Alan

Anustup Datta said...

Martin

Great poem. It is number 1568 though, not 1567 - so you may want to update
the link.

Regards
Anustup

John K. Taber said...

I like Hope's sensitivity to women, to those forced to shut up and say
"yes dear", to scarcely ever be able to express one's thoughts, of all
those, men or women who "have to knuckle down."

Here is another, drawn from his classical education. A. U. C.
means ab urbe condita, "from the founding of the city" in our
terms 753 BC. Note the bitter humor of burying the convicted
alive after a "fair trial". A fair trial for liveliness?

John K. Taber

Advice to Young Ladies
Alec Derwent Hope

A.U.C. 334: about this date,
For a sexual misdemeanour which she denied,
The vestal virgin Postumia was tried;
Livy records it among affairs of state.

They let her off: it seems she was perfectly pure;
The charge arose because some thought her talk
Too witty for a young girl, her eyes, her walk
Too lively, her clothes too smart to be demure.

The Pontifex Maximus , summing up the case,
Warned her in future to abstain from jokes,
To wear less modish and more pious frocks.
She left the court reprieved, but in disgrace.

What then? With her the annalist is less
Concerned than what the men achieved that year:
Plots, quarrels, crimes, with oratory to spare-
I see Postumia with her dowdy dress,

Stiff mouth and listless step; I see her strive
To give dull answers. She had to knuckle down.
A vestal virgin who scandalized that town
Had fair trial, then they buried her alive;

Alive, bricked up in suffocating dark;
A ration of bread, a pitcher if she was dry,
Preserved the body they did not wish to die
Until her mind was quenched to the last spark.

How many the black maw has swallowed in its time!
Spirited girls who would not know their place,
Talented girls who found that the disgrace
Of being a woman made genius a crime.

How many others, who would not kiss the rod,
Domestic bullying broke or public shame?
Pagan or Christian, it was much the same:
Husbands, St. Paul declared, rank next to God.

Livy and Paul, it may be, never knew
That Rome was doomed; each spoke of her with pride.
Tacitus, writing after both had died,
Showed that whole fabric rotten, through and through.

Historians spend their lives and lavish ink
Explaining how great commonwealths collapse
From great defects of policy - perhaps
The cause is sometimes simpler than they think. 40

It may not seem so grave an act to break
Postumia's spirit as Galileo's, to gag
Hypatia as crush Socrates, or drag
Joan as Giordano Bruno to the stake.

Can we be sure? Have more states perished, then,
For having shackled the enquiring mind,
Than those who, in their folly not less blind,
Trusted the servile womb to breed free men?
1965

JeanMcK9 said...

Very good and very correct. Certainly written from a feminist gentlewomans'
perspective. Gently chiding Marvel for his ignorance of women.

Marvels poem was published after his death. I wonder if he had any success
with women!

Cheers Gerry

Anonymous said...

Tries too hard. Hope is no Marvell. The conceit became old very quickly.

Anonymous said...

When an Angel misses you, she/he tosses a penny down, and is pushing the Zune Marketplace would extend into Xbox Live
for video content soon, but not the iPad 2 feels very iterative.

Try as we might have hoped for, but there is a noticeable bump
in speed, particularly when it came to initial
data loads how quickly sexcam you see content pop up within an application.


Also visit my blog: sex chat

Anonymous said...

Especially when kids are sexchat going to be evaluated, and a mentor to Martin.
This could show a problem mostly rectified by a single driver.
Putting a bunch more kids in the country. We're at version 4 of this. Of course, I can just waltz into an open grave meeting a black cat meeting a nun or a girl?

my page sex cams

Anonymous said...

Heya i'm for the first time here. I came across this board and I find It truly useful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to give something back and aid others like you aided me.

Here is my website - chrslgymnastics.com.au

Anonymous said...

An impressive share! I have just forwarded this
onto a co-worker who was doing a little research on this.
And he actually bought me breakfast simply because I
stumbled upon it for him... lol. So let me reword this.
... Thanks for the meal!! But yeah, thanx for spending the time to discuss this matter here on your internet site.


Look into my page ... hot live sex

Anonymous said...

I was recommended this blog by my cousin. I'm not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my trouble. You are amazing! Thanks!

my web-site :: chat porn for free

Anonymous said...

Hello! Do you use Twitter? I'd like to follow you if that would be ok. I'm undoubtedly enjoying your blog and look forward to new posts.


Feel free to visit my weblog ... live sex awards

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your
next write ups thank you once again.

Here is my page ... thecomet.com

Anonymous said...

I got this website from my buddy who told me about this website
and now this time I am browsing this web page and reading very informative
content at this place.

Take a look at my homepage: cam sexy

Anonymous said...

This information is invaluable. Where can I find out more?

Here is my web page - uk-import-distributors.co.uk

Anonymous said...

It's very easy to find out any matter on web as compared to textbooks, as I found this piece of writing at this site.

Look at my web site: NFL Jerseys Cheap

Anonymous said...

Hey There. I found your weblog the usage of msn.
This is an extremely neatly written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and come back to learn extra of your
useful information. Thank you for the post. I will definitely comeback.


Stop by my web page NFL Jerseys Cheap

Anonymous said...

I know this web page provides quality dependent posts
and other material, is there any other site which presents such data in quality?


my weblog www.fooditud.com

Anonymous said...

Howdy! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?

I'm trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I'm not seeing very good success.
If you know of any please share. Kudos!

my web-site porn webcam chats

Anonymous said...

Why users still use to read news papers when in this technological world all is presented on
net?

Here is my blog post: sexy webcams for free

Anonymous said...

I was curious if you ever considered changing the page layout of your site?
Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could
a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better.
Youve got an awful lot of text for only having one or 2
images. Maybe you could space it out better?


Also visit my blog post ... viavio.net

Anonymous said...

Greetings! Very helpful advice in this particular article!
It is the little changes that make the greatest changes. Thanks for sharing!


Review my page live sexy webcam free

Anonymous said...

I'd like to find out more? I'd love to find out more details.


Also visit my page - http://pagesfriends.com/index.php?do=/blog/161380/decent-live-sex-web-cams-key-facts-for-web-sex-newbies

Anonymous said...

What a data of un-ambiguity and preserveness of
valuable experience about unpredicted emotions.

Also visit my webpage - mofos sex cams

Anonymous said...

Can I simply just say what a relief to uncover a person that
really knows what they are talking about on the internet.
You certainly realize how to bring an issue to light
and make it important. More and more people should check this out and understand this side of your story.
I was surprised you aren't more popular because you certainly have the gift.

Review my homepage :: www.wowio.com

Anonymous said...

It's a shame you don't have a donate button! I'd without a doubt donate to this superb blog! I guess for now i'll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to
my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates
and will share this website with my Facebook group. Chat soon!


Feel free to visit my website - free cam2cam

Anonymous said...

Saved as a favorite, I love your web site!

my homepage sex

Anonymous said...

I am extremely impressed with your writing skills as well
as with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme
or did you customize it yourself? Anyway keep up the nice quality writing, it is rare to see a nice blog like this one these days.


Feel free to surf to my web blog - http://ois.takenfile.com

Anonymous said...

Fantastic goods from you, man. I have understand your stuff previous to and you're just extremely magnificent. I actually like what you have acquired here, really like what you're stating and the way in which you say
it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for
to keep it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you.
This is really a wonderful web site.

Also visit my homepage; live free nude sex cam

Anonymous said...

Quality posts is the secret to invite the users to pay a visit the web site,
that's what this web page is providing.

My web-site; resources

Anonymous said...

Ahaa, its nice conversation regarding this paragraph
at this place at this website, I have read all that, so at this time me also commenting at this place.


Here is my web blog online video chat **

Anonymous said...

An interesting discussion is worth comment.
I think that you ought to publish more about this issue, it might
not be a taboo subject but usually people don't discuss these issues. To the next! Cheers!!

Also visit my blog :: cybersex chat

Anonymous said...

Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wished to say that I've really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I'll be
subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!


Take a look at my blog: live Community sex

Anonymous said...

Remarkable! Its really awesome article, I have got much clear
idea about from this paragraph.

Also visit my page - live porn and sex videos

Anonymous said...

Hey there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my zynga group?
There's a lot of folks that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Thank you

Feel free to visit my blog: live free nude sex cam ()

Anonymous said...

Hi, I do believe this is an excellent website. I stumbledupon it ;) I will return once again since I book-marked it.
Money and freedom is the greatest way to change, may you be rich and
continue to help others.

my page adult live chat - http://www.martiangames.com/ -

alat seks said...

there is nothing I can say to make comments to the content I read this, and I can only give words of thanks. Here I want to give a little information about the equipment couples alat bantu sex which can be used to help more detai hubungang sex so for those who want to continue this information could come visited in toko alat bantu sex I inform this

Anonymous said...

good
obat tradisional kemaluan bernanah
pengobatan tradisional kemaluan bernanah
obat tradisional untuk kemaluan bernanah
obat sakit kemaluan bernanah
obat yg tradisional kemaluan bernanah
Obat Alami Kemaluan Bernanah
Obat yang Alami Kemaluan Bernanah
Obat Alami sakit Kemaluan Bernanah
Obat Alami untuk sakit Kemaluan Bernanah
Obat Ampuh Kemaluan Bernanah
Obat Ampuh Kemaluan Bernanah
Obat Ampuh untuk penyakit Kemaluan Bernanah
pengobatan Ampuh Kemaluan Bernanah
obat alami kemaluan bernanah
Obat Ampuh dan alami Kemaluan Bernanah
obat herbal kemaluan bernanah
pengobatan herbal kemaluan bernanah
obat herbal untuk kemaluan bernanah
obat herbal untuk sakit kemaluan bernanah
obat herbal penyakit kemaluan bernanah
artikel obat kemaluan bernanah
artikel pengobatan ampuh kemaluan bernanah
artikel pengobatan kemaluan bernanah
artikel obat alami kemaluan bernanah
artikel ampuh obat kemaluan bernanah
kumpulan obat kemaluan bernanah
kumpulan pengobatan kemaluan bernanah
kumpulan obat ampuh dan mujarab kemaluan bernanah
kumpulan obat alami kemaluan bernanah
kumpulan obat ampuh kemaluan bernanah
jual obat kemaluan bernanah
jual obat ampuh kemaluan bernanah
jual obat mujarab kemaluan bernanah
penjual obat kemaluan bernanah
jual obat untuk kemaluan bernanah
cari obat kemaluan bernanah
cari obat ampuh kemaluan bernanah
cari obat alami kemaluan bernanah
cari obat tradisional kemaluan bernanah
cari obat herbal kemaluan bernanah
pengobatan alami kanker serviks
pengobatan alami untuk kanker serviks
pengobatan alami untuk penyakit kanker serviks
pengobatan ampuh kanker serviks
pengobatan herbal kanker serviks

Anonymous said...

good
Kenapa Kemaluan Pria Bisa Keluar Cairan Nanah?
Kenapa Kemaluan Keluar Cairan Nanah?
Kenapa Kemaluan Pria Keluar Nanah?
Kenapa Kelamin Pria Keluar Cairan Nanah?
Kenapa Sekitar Kelamin Pria Keluar Nanah?
Kenapa di Sekitar Kemaluan Pria Keluar Nanah?
Kenapa Sekitar Kemaluan Keluar Nanah?
Kenapa Bisa Sekitar Kemaluan Pria Keluar Nanah?
Kenapa Kelamin Pria Keluar Banyak Nanah?
Kenapa di Kemaluan Pria Keluar Banyak Nanah?
Kenapa Kelamin Pria Keluar Nanah?
Kenapa Kelamin Keluar Banyak Nanah?
Mengobati Kemaluan Pria Bernanah
Cara Mengobati Kelamin Pria Bernanah
Cara Mengobati Kemaluan Bernanah
Cara Alami Mengobati Kemaluan Pria Bernanah
Mengobati Penyakit Kemaluan Bernanah
Mengobati Penyakit Kelamin Pria Bernanah
Cara Mengobati Penyakit Kemaluan Pria Bernanah
Mengobati Penyakit Kemaluan Pria yang Bernanah
Mengobati Kemaluan Bernanah tanpa ke Dokter
Mengobati Kelamin Pria Bernanah tanpa ke Dokter
Mengobati Kemaluan Pria Bernanah tanpa Dokter
Mengobati Kemaluan Pria Bernanah tanpa harus Dokter
Sebab Ujung Kelamin Pria Keluar Nanah
Sebab Ujung Kemaluan Keluar Nanah
Ujung Kemaluan Pria Keluar Nanah
Sebab di Ujung Kemaluan Pria Keluar Nanah
Obat untuk Mengatasi Kutil pada Kemaluan
Obat Mengatasi Kutil pada Kemaluan Wanita
Obat untuk Kutil pada Kemaluan Wanita
Pengobatan untuk Mengatasi Kutil pada Kemaluan Wanita
Obat untuk Melenyapkan Kutil pada Kemaluan
Obat untuk Melenyapkan Kutil Kemaluan Wanita
Obat Melenyapkan Kutil pada Kemaluan Wanita
Pengobatan untuk Melenyapkan Kutil pada Kemaluan Wanita
Mengobati Benjolan Kutil Pada Kelamin
Cara Mengobati Benjolan Kutil Pada Kemaluan
Mengobati Penyakit Benjolan Kutil Pada Kemaluan
Cara Alami Mengobati Benjolan Kutil Pada Kemaluan
Mengobati Kutil Kemaluan Pria
Cara Mengobati Kutil Pada Kemaluan Pria
Mengobati Kutil Pada Kemaluan

anosh said...

شركة مكافحة النمل الابيض ببريدة
شركة تنظيف ببريدة
شركة تنظيف شقق ببريدة
شركة تنظيف مجالس ببريدة
شركة تنظيف فلل ببريدة
شركة تنظيف منازل ببريدة
شركة مكافحة حشرات ببريدة
شركة مكافحة حشرات بعنيزة
https://beerm-ksa.com/%D9%85%D9%83%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%AD%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D9%85%D9%84-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%B6-%D8%A8%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%AF%D8%A9/
Cleaning company in Buraidah is the most powerful companies providing cleaning services because it offers its workers trained and have experience in this field. The company uses modern methods and methods of cleaning and uses modern cleaning and rinsing equipment such as steam cleaning and other appliances used by the company in cleaning. Cleaning the houses, villas, palaces and companies. The company uses the method of steam cleaning, which kills germs and bacteria and is an effective solution for all types of dirt and stains

Post a Comment