Chaacter Analysis of "to His Coy Mistress" and "dover Beach"

Together

The narrators of the poem "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold and the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell both have similarities but yet differences in their message. The narrators of the two poems try to persuade the audience of their need for love and why they should not be alone.

While the narrators of "Dover Beach" and "To His Coy Mistress" both desire love, there reason for love and not wanting to be alone is very different. In the poem 'Dover Beach" the narrator believes that he and his love need to stick together because of a crises situation. "Dover Beach" by Matthew Arnold" was written during a time where there was change taking place in the way that people lived from both war and new industry that was being built. We understand that he was talking about the changes from the way the narrator uses metaphor when he talks about the sea and the beach. In the line "Listen! You hear the grating roar" (9) could mean from the sounds of war gun shots and fallen men. In the sounds of industry being built we might hear hammers pounding nails to machinery of the factory all a part of the change that is taking place. Also in the lines "Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling / begin, and cease, and then again begin," (10, 12) here we understand with the waves of the sea and on being on the beach we know there is change. There are times of high tide and times of low tide all of which is change. Just as in life day and night bring about change. There are good days and bad days. Line 14, "The eternal note of sadness in" (14) also the lines "Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow / Of human misery" (17,18) times when life brings about sadness and depression all a part of life and how things change. Even though life changes may bring about times of sadness and depression he begins the third stanza with "The Sea of Faith" (21) holding on to the religious belief knowing that even though there are changes and hard times, and there is no certainty in life we can trust in God that everything will be fine. Because of crises and changes in life the uncertainty it brings the narrator feels we should cling together.

In the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by Andrew Marvell while the narrator here also believes in love and being together is import, the narrator shows us a much different reason than Matthew Arnold's narrator as to why we should be together. The narrator here believes we should be together because time is short, and because time is short we should enjoy the pleasures of life and share this passion together. As in the very first line we understand the time factor "Had we but world enough and time," (1). We also see time as a factor in the line "Love you ten years before the Flood" (8) back in the days when Noah built the ark and before the flood of the earth, yet before