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Compare How Time Is Presented in 'Hour' and One Other Poem

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Compare How Time Is Presented in 'Hour' and One Other Poem
Compare how time is presented in 'Hour' and one other Poem

Both poems 'Hour' and 'To His Coy Mistress' present the power time has between two people. 'Hour' is a poem about two lovers who have one hour together and explores the ideas of material possesions and a modern reinterpretation of love. Where as 'To His Coy Mistress' is a poem where the man is trying to convince the woman to sleep with him and exploring the idea of living and enjoying your life whilst your young.

Both of the poems use different types of poetic techniques to depict how time can effect the relationship of two lovers. In 'Hour' Duffy uses a metaphor at the start of the poem to allude how love has less power than time. When Duffy announces 'Love's time's beggar, but even a single hour,/bright as a dropped coin, makes love rich.' we see a twist of notion, like every second is like an hour creating a paradox. Duffy also uses refereces to two fairytales, Rumpelstiltskin and King Midas. When Duffy declares 'the Midas light/turning your limbs to gold.' Duffy portrays a slightly sinister tone almost giving the reader a message to becareful what you wish for just like in the fairytale of King Midas.When Duffy announces at the end of the poem 'love spins gold, gold, gold from straw' Duffy refers to the story of Rumpelstlitskin and could be trying to warn her partner of the commitments they may make or perhaps could be telling her readers to have a reality check once in a while because sometimes you may feel like your relationship and the love you share will be forever and extrodinary but time will always shorten or take it away. On the other hand 'To His Coy Mistress' opens with and idea of if the two lovers had enough time they would do great things. When Marvell announces 'Had we but world enough, and time/This coyness, Lady, were no crime,' he gives the reader an idea of spending all the time in the world with his lover, if they had all the time in the world. When Marvell uses the adjective

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