In Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" and Christopher Marlowe's "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love" both speakers to address their mistresses use elegant language. Although the poems are focused on love, the speakers have different views on what that means.  Both authors have an extravagant plan to court their mistresses. "To His Coy Mistress" is a carpe-diem poem that emphasizes the importance of a rushed romance due to the passing of time. However, Marvell and Marlowe have very different attitudes towards their courtship, especially when it comes to time. Marvell's speaker reveals his fear of death and uses his desire to "seize the day" to help pursue his mistress. In contrast, Marlowe's speaker calmly suggests that time will pass slowly and pleasantly if his love were to live with him.  Marlowe's attitude towards his courtship is much more genuine than Marvell's eagerness to rush things. 

Both poets have a beautiful use of language when proposing their love to their mistresses. Marvell uses a lengthy first stanza to describe the type of love his dear mistress deserves to have saying things such as "An hundred years should go to praise/Thine eyes" (Marvell 13-14). Similarly in language, Marlowe tells his love "I will make thee bed of Roses/And a thousand fragrant posies" (Marlowe 9-10). Both of these are examples of hyperbolic and flowery language used to help seduce their loves and illustrate the depth of their affection. Both poems are extremely famous due to their use of romantic language. 

However the tones of both speakers are very different due their different attitudes towards love. Marlowe's approach to his love is very laidback, Marlowe simply asks "Come live with me and be my love," (Marlowe 1) and goes on to list promises of things they will do together if she is to accept his offer. "and we will" he says before proposing every new promise.  There is no sense of urgency for his courtship unlike Marvell. Marvell's speaker talks to his love with the endearing thou pronouns when he tries to make her believe that they should be lovers, but when he wants to show her how cold she is to him, he uses you as a tool of manipulation (Reff). "If these delights thy mind may move,/Then live with me and be my love." (Marlowe 23-24) Marlowe's uses the phrase "live with me and be my love" three times throughout the poem which suggest he is interested in more than just her body, he wants an actual life with this woman. He promises to give her many pleasures in life including: adventures, beautiful clothes, and a relationship  --  he does this without being pushy. 

"Had we but world enough, and time" -- with these words, Andrew Marvell begins his impassioned proposal to his "Coy Mistress" urging her to make love to him by reminding her of their fleeting youth and imminence of death. Marvell stresses Carpe diem, or "seize the day," a theme made popular by Roman poet Horace to help convince his mistress (Edsitement). Marvell's attitude towards his mistress seems to be less about his love for her and more about his race against time and morality. He begins his poem by telling her if their were time he would give her the love she is worthy of, but there is not so she should be less coy and consummate their relationship while they still can. 

"Let us roll all our strength and all

Our sweetness up into one ball,

And tear our pleasures with rough strife

Thorough the iron gates of life:" (Marvell 41-44). 

Here Marvell tries to explain to his mistress that if they were to partake in intimate relationships it would seem as if time had stopped for a little while, giving them an escape from reality, a reality in which time is fleeting. 

Love poetry can have many different approaches, Marvell and Marlowe are similar in the fact that both of their poems are love proposals, but their intentions are different as we can tell in their tone and attitudes. With extravagant language, both seem to be very persuasive, although Marvell's approach is much more manipulative and has a sense of urgency to it. Although the differences are evident --  both of these love poems go down in history as key contributions to literature. 

