Symbolism of To His Coy Mistress

In the poem “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell symbolism is used to show readers how this speaker is trying so hard to persuade a woman into becoming lovers. He uses a lot of references of long periods of time to show his lasting love to her “I would / love you ten years before the Flood… (7). The speaker also shows such immeasurable amount of love “My vegetable love should grow / Vaster than empires, and more slow(11), symbolizing his love as huge. He also uses symbolism of time to get her to react quickly by saying they soon would run out of time to react to one another “Now therefore, while the youthful hue / Sits on thy skin like morning glew / …Now let us sport us while we may / … Rather at once our time devour…” (33). The speaker is using these symbols to pressure the woman into becoming intimate with him.