Contrasting Love in To His Coy Mistress and Elegy for JaneIf one is interested enough to look, one can find twenty-eight definitions of the word "love" in the dictionary. Such a broad word has undoubtedly contributed to the diversity of poems that all (legitimately) claim to be about “love.” Two such poems are “To His Coy Mistress,” by Andrew Marvell, and “Elegy for Jane,” by Theodore Roethke. Both poems are clearly love poems; however, the types of love each represents are very different. “To His Coy Mistress” is written in a very loving tone, while “Elegy for Jane” is written in a tone of deep, personal affection and loss. The number three dictionary definition for love is “sexual passion or desire.” This is the position from which "To His Coy Mistress" is written. Marvell spends the first twenty lines of the poem extolling feminine attributes such as shyness and virginity (lines 2 and 6). The first twenty lines of the poem are Marvell's attempt to gain the trust of the subject of the poem (as it is clearly written for a young woman). He assures her that if he had the time, he would love her as she deserves to be loved (line 19). He assures her that he could spend over thirty thousand years renting her body parts. He would also wait a time of biblical magnitude (lines 8 to 10) for the young woman to grant him her sexual favors, if he had time to wait. However, even in this kind of "you can trust me because I love and appreciate you fully for who you are" type of setup to gain the girl's trust, it is clear that his intentions are romantic: the fact that he barely spends a hundred years praising her eyes, but collectively spends four hundred years on her breasts (lines 13-15) is...... middle of paper...... neither father nor lover"). Their bond, apparently teacher/student, has become a friendship much stronger than an academic friendship. The tone is nostalgic, but sad for the loss of someone for whom the speaker had a deep affection .Love comes in many forms, and poets have probably described them all at one time or another, it's entirely possible for two "love poems." » are written in completely different tones. “To His Coy Mistress” by Marvell is a very amorous poem, spoken by a fiery young man. man, while Roethke's "Elegy for Jane" is a sad look back at a life lost too soon, told by a deeply affected friend. The two poems are as poignant as they are distinct from each other, and they constitute an interesting lesson in love. Works Cited: Marvell, Andrew. “To his shy mistress” and other poems. New York: Dover Publications, Inc..., 1997.