In the 46 lines of Andrew Marvell’s poem “To His Coy Mistress,” an anonymous lover attempts to convince his reluctant mistress to have sex with him. The speaker addresses the object of his affection directly, and his monologue takes the form of an argument. He begins by inviting his mistress to imagine that they had all of time at their disposal. If he could devote an eternity to his seduction, then there would be no need for the two of them to hurry. He could court her leisurely and spend years praising every aspect of her beauty. However, since a human being’s time on earth is very short, time is of the essence. Instead of deferring their desire, the speaker insists that he and his mistress must consummate their passion now. Over the course of the poem, the speaker develops this argument through a series of elaborate poetic conceits that are often humorous and overstated. In the end, though, his message is quite straightforward: his coy mistress should have sex with him now because life is too short.