17th Century Seduction Poems Are Relevant In The 21st...

During the 17th century, certain poets wrote poems with the specific purpose of persuading a woman to have sexual intercourse with them. Three of these seduction poems utilize several strategies to do this: Andrew Marvell’s â€Å"To His Coy Mistress,† and Donne’s â€Å"A Valediction: Forbidden Mourning† and â€Å"The Flea.† Some of the reasoning used by both poets is similar to the reasoning used today by men to convince women to have sexual intercourse with them. These gimmicks vary from poem to poem but coincide with modern day rationalization. The tactics used in 17th century seduction poems are relevant and similar to the seduction tactics used in the 21st century. Through his writing, Andrew Marvell uses several strategies to get a woman to sleep†¦show more content†¦In the final stanza of the poem, Marvell presents a solution to all the predicaments he had previously mentioned. â€Å"While the youthful hue/ Sits on thy skin like morning dew/ And while thy willing soul transpires†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (33-35), he writes, proposing that while they are both young and willing, they should have sex. He then suggests the type of sexual activity they participate in: â€Å"Let us roll all our strength and all/ Our sweetness into one ball† (41-42) suggesting what is known in modern terms as sixty-nine. Many of the tools Marvell used in his poem â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† to seduce women are utilized in this century. First, Marvell’s argument that his vegetable love will grow for his woman is comparable to the words that men commonly use today. Men will tell a woman they love her simply to get her in bed. They try to convince their woman that they will always be there to hold and to cherish them, so committing to sex is a profession of that love and will guarantee permanence in the relationship. If a man promises a woman that he will always be around, and shows it, she will trust him. If a woman trusts a man she will be much more likely to sleep with him. Secondly, Marvell brings up the issue of aging, also used today by men to get women in bed. â€Å"Life is short† is the modern clichà ©, and men and women both approach sexual relations with the attitude that youShow MoreRelatedLove in To His Coy Mistress and The Flea Essay1850 Words   |  8 Pagesimagery. E ach poem was written in the 17th century, just after the Renaissance. The poets were metaphysical poets. Although the metaphysic was originally a derogatory term, metaphysical poetry used intellectual and theological concepts in an ingenious way. Metaphysical poetry was partly written in rebellion against the highly conventional Elizabethan love poetry just prior to the time. Conventional love poetry what one would generally expect of a love poem. A perhapsRead MoreA Picatrix Miscellany52019 Words   |  209 Pagesinformation on their various effects. The number of the sources is then increased by the mention of a book dedicated to Alexander by Aristotle (obviously Secretum secretorum) and a work by Hermes (al-Hà ¢dà ®tà »s). There is, however, no indication of the relevant source for most of the instructions, so that it cannot be determined whether the sources of all are the same as those just mentioned. The differing degree of explicitness of the instructions makes it probable that the author collected his material