I adore poetry! To His Coy Mistress is one of my absolute faves=D
Over the past few centuries, a lot of poetry has been written about love and seduction. The poetry I’ve chosen reflects the poetry styles and representation of love from the 16th century England to the metaphysical era in to modern times. From this selection of poems, it is easy to see the similarity of gender and the roles associated to love portrayed through these poems and songs through the different eras, although now it is thought that we live in a more equal society gender-wise.
Shakespeare’s poems reflect the time he was writing in – the Renaissance period, and his various sonnets expressing love are important in showing just how love was represented in that time. Marriage at that time in the 1600’s was sacred and its purpose was just to produce children, where it was a time which was dominated by the church. Shakespeare, through his poetry, is one of the quintessential poets of this time who expresses his society’s beliefs in a lot of his works, but he also produced works where couples married for love for each other, instead of marrying just to have children. His poems and plays represent the section of his society which believed in love and not for convenience or wealth. One example of this is in his sonnet 18 (“my mistress eyes are nothing like the sunne…”), which describes the persona’s love for a woman although she is not as beautiful as other women. This went against some of the boundaries of the gender expectations of society then, and is part of a lot of his works which defines Shakespeare’s work as another style on its own. It does however have similar values to what we believe in today, about love and the gender roles associated with it. While it may seem that we are more accepting of love today in society, regardless of age or beauty or race, this poem takes on a similar approach even though it was written more than 300 year ago, which shows some beliefs about love and gender from years ago still exist in today’s modern society.
The Elizabethan era leads in to the metaphysical era where poetry was more focused on wit and logic. At this time in the 17th century, the church still held a lot of power and influenced most poetry written at the time. John Donne is one of the key poets of this time, as well as Andrew Marvell, who developed a style distinct to this period. Donne’s Valediction: Forbidding Mourning is a poem about a couple’s separation, and how their love will stay strong even if they are physically apart. This poem draws on a lot of religious symbolism into it, where spheares and a compass are used to elevate their relationship to a spiritual level. This reflects the time he was writing in, which was very much religious and connected to the church. It also reflects the intellectual ability of the poets in that time - they were well educated and the metaphysical era of poetry was a time where poets presented a logical argument to the audience that made them seems smart and witty. I think this is one of Donne’s poems which show the stereotypical view of love – where it transcends time and space and survives all things. This idea can still be seen today in movies and TV shows – no matter what “love conquers all”.
Andrew Marvell’s poem ‘To his coy mistress’, one of the most well known poems of the metaphysical era, describes a man’s persuasion of a woman to sleep with him, as there is not much time in the world to do whatever they want. While this may be controversial in modern times, where the man is seemingly only after her virginity (“…then worms shall try/That long-preserved virginity, /And you quaint honor turn to dust, /And into ashes all my lust…), in Marvell's context, the metaphysical era contained themes associated with the phrase carpe diem – meaning ‘seize the day’. Marvell's poem is a classic carpe diem poem of the time, and shows the true expression of the beliefs and ideals of the time. This love poem persuades the woman to sleep with him as there is not enough time to do whatever they want. This can be read different ways, depending on your context. In Marvell's time, and even today, it is a celebrated poem of love and a classic representation of the poetic style in that time. His imagery of the expansion of time to make their love seem endless reinforces his argument to the female listener – and tells us that they can “beat” time through love. This idea is also seen today in modern poetry and the media.
Today, modern songs also represent love and seduction similar to that of past eras. From all the poems through the past few centuries, the representation hasn’t changed much in poetry/songs, even though literature has been through so many different ages and styles. From a song like ‘Let me love you’ by Mario, the values held about gender centuries ago still exist today in modern songs and poetry. This song supports the traditional gender roles associated with love – where the male is the protector and dominant, while the female is passive, vulnerable and materialistic. Many modern songs today express this view through the lyrics – which shows the unchanging views of gender roles and the expression of love throughout time. While there have been some changes to the idea of love and the roles associated with love (we now live in a relatively non patriarchal society), the traditional beliefs about gender are still dominant in literature, and it is easily seen through this selection of poems. A few do stray outside these boundaries though, and although some may be influenced by society’s expectations, a song like Vanessa Carlton’s ‘A Thousand Miles’ can be read as rejecting society’s idea of the traditional gender roles. A female persona describes how she will walk until she finds her lover and this can be seen as opposing the traditional gender roles- it is the female instead of the male who is mobile, and she is the one who is outside and desiring the male. This song can be seen as a representation of today’s society beliefs and values – today females are treated fairly equally to men. It would be fair to say these beliefs are dominant in today’s modern society, though if you analyse some poems/songs, it’s easy to see the traditional gender roles beneath the lines. From this, it can be seen the idea of love has survived through the ages, and the dominant idea of it still exists even if today’s society thinks that the values of gender have changed.
These songs all link together in the expression of love, and even through the centuries, the dominant idea of the gender roles associated with it can still be seen through the lines of the poems/songs. Poetry has been a device used to convey the meaning of love to the audience, and while there have been many styles over the past few centuries – from the renaissance to the modern era, the meaning of love has always seemed to stay on the same level. These poems are important in showing how the meaning and representation of love has changed through time, and the similar beliefs we hold of it. It is from these poems that we get an idea of what love means to us and the importance of it in our lives.