To His Coy Mistress

Andrew Marvell is generally considered a metaphysical poet. However, the term "metaphysical" is debated among scholars; some argue that baroque is a better term. Broadly, metaphysical poetry refers to a group of poets writing in the 17th century. Metaphysical poetry is marked by complex metaphors, intellectual argumentation, and obscure style. At the heart of this genre, poetry seeks to join the physical plane of existence with the metaphysical one.

John Donne is the most famous metaphysical poet (some scholars offer the term The School of Donne as an alternative to metaphysical poetry), although George Herbert is also highly influential. Marvell emulates some of Donne’s tropes in “To His Coy Mistress”: a secular viewpoint that argues for physical intimacy over distant worship of the beloved.

The metaphysical poets’ agenda to mix the physical with the metaphysical stands in opposition to another 17th century set of ideas: the Cartesian divide between mind and body. French philosopher Rene Descartes penned the famous line “I think, therefore I am,” as well as many other lines arguing that the mind is the seat of both intellect and self, and its non-material nature takes precedence over the material body.