Presentation of Relationships in 'to His Coy Mistress' and 'Ghazal'

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3.Presentation of relationships in 'To His Coy Mistress' and 'Ghazal' Both 'Ghazal' and 'To His Coy Mistress' present relationships as self-seeking and manipulative, as the narrators in both poems desire the sexual fulfilment of their lover. In 'To His Coy Mistress' Andrew Marvell uses form for effect. The narrator in the poem is trying to convince his love to have sex with him, and his whole argument can be seen as humorous and playful. One way we see this is through the use of rhyming couplets which are employed throughout the poem: 'Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime'. The extended use of rhyming couplets has a comic effect in this poem as the fast paced rhymes read like a collection of little jokes with fast punch lines. This shows that the narrator is keen to use rhyming couplets as a method for creating humour, in the hope that this humour will persuade his love to consent to sexual intercourse. Similarly, Mimi Khalvati's poem 'Ghazal' uses rhyme, but here the poetic device is employed for a different purpose. In this poem, the last but one words in each stanza rhyme with each other: 'woo/cue', 'tattoo/subdue' and so on. Whereas the rhyme is used in 'To His Coy Mistress' to create a comic edged persuasion, the rhyme found in Ghazal is linked to the poetic form. The Ghazal is an ancient form of Arabic love poetry which follows a strict pattern that includes the rhyme detailed above. Khalvati's use of this ancient form of poem suggests that the love felt by the speaker is both timeless and unending. Like 'To His Coy Mistress', the narrator seeks sexual gratification from their lover, but rather than use humour to persuade they are using an ancient poetic form which suggests their love is timeless.This is a direct contrast to the desperate lack of time felt by the narrator in 'To His Coy Mistress', who laments that there
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