“Coy Mistress”: Essay with ONE central, interesting claim about the poem

In To His Coy Mistress, Marvell uses a three-part structure, each consisting of different tones and emotions in order to convey the theme of carpe diem.  In lines 1-20, Marvell speaks to his mistress in the condition:  "Two hundred to adore each breast, But thirty thousand to the rest." Marvell employs a high-spirited tone, which expresses the magnitude of his love for his mistress, without considering the withering effects of time.  In a perfect, timeless world, he could afford to be patient; however, lines 21-32 play a pivotal role in the poem, as these lines serve as a reality check for the mistress. Although he states that he would be patient in their relationship in a timeless world, Marvell uses the second part to emphasize the constraints of time:  "The beauty shall no more be found."  Marvel, using a rather ominous tone, stresses that, unlike his conditional world where beauty would be preserved, their youth, beauty, and fertility cannot be taken for granted.  In the final part, lines 33-46, Marvell employs an urgent tone.  In the previous part, he had made his claim that the boundaries of time were very much real; however, in the third part, he takes what he said in the second part and says that they should make the best of their relationship before time runs out.  While the third part is the only part that concretely stresses "carpe diem," both of the other parts have just as important a role in demonstrating it.  Both parts serve as a introduction to the final part, as they are different proposals.