Language
First stanza
In the first stanzaLines of poetry that make up a section; a verse. there are humorously exaggerated references to traditional romantic ideas. He speaks of spending "An hundred years" to "praise / Thine eyes" and "Two hundred to adore each breast".
This is all undermined by the poem's opening words, "Had we but world enough, and time".
He is presenting a courtship which may sound wonderful, but is one he states from the outset is impossible. Persuasively he tells his lover "you deserve this state", even though he knows it is all an exaggerated fantasy.
Images of death and decay are used in the second stanza to show the lover the pointlessness of resisting. Once dead "then worms shall try / That long preserved virginity".
This disgusting image is intended to encourage his lover to give her virginity to the speaker rather than foolishly saving herself for the "worms" when buried.
He also makes a pun of her "quaint honour". This could be seen as a reference to her na茂ve preservation of her virginity even though death - alluded to by "turn to dust" - is inevitable.
Second stanza
The second stanza also echoes words from the Christian burial tradition - "dust" and "ashes" are both referred to and act as a reminder to the mistress that life only has one outcome, so waiting is pointless.
The rhyming of "dust" and "lust" on lines 29 and 30 effectively summarises the choice the mistress must make.
The final line of the second stanza uses parenthetical commasCommas used to set off elements in a sentence that can be removed without changing the essential meaning of the sentence, also known as an aside. to convince us - and the lover - that the speaker has logically reached a conclusion. He says, 鈥淭he grave's a fine and private place, / But none, I think, do there embrace.鈥
This acts as a challenge - who would be unreasonable enough to disagree with him?
Third stanza
The final stanza - in which the speaker grows impatient to convince his mistress - is full of references to speed, urgency and passion. The simileA comparison using 'like' or 'as' to create a vivid image, eg as big as a whale; float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. "while the youthful hue / Sits on thy skin like morning dew" restates the speaker's desire, with a focus on his mistress' body.
The "morning dew" is also an effective simile in that dew very quickly disappears as the day advances, just like her youthful appearance.
He also suggests that "like amorous birds of prey" they should "at once our time devour".
This imagery is quite animalistic, and hints at his barely contained desires.
They should not - he thinks - be waiting for death. He speaks of "instant fires" - meaning their feelings of desire - urging his mistress that they should "sport us while we may".
He suggests they should "roll all our strength and all / Our sweetness up into one ball". The alliteration Repetition of the same letter sounds. of the 's' sounds on the positive words "strength" and "sweetness" are part of a shift in the poem away from the earlier negative language to more active, more enjoyable words and ideas.