Look again at the three seventeenth century poems, To His Coy Mistress,

Look again at the three seventeenth century poems, To His Coy Mistress, The Flea, and Shall I compare thee. In what ways have the three poets used, or departed from, the conventions of their time and why do you think they have been successful in ... Look again at the three seventeenth century poems, â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†, â€Å"The Flea†, and â€Å"Shall I compare thee†. In what ways have the three poets used, or departed from, the conventions of their time and why do you think they have been successful in entertaining their readers? â€Å"To His Coy Mistress†, â€Å"The Flea† and â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee† are all poems written in the 17th century. Marvell, Donne and Shakespeare who were the authors of the poems, departed from conventions of that time. Marvel and Donne wrote metaphysical poetry and invented a new genre, whereas Shakespeare wrote a sonnet which appeared to be written in the style of that time but with twists. They have achieved these poems by taking a unique approach to writing them and by keeping the readers entertained through amusement, dismay and excitement. â€Å"To His Coy Mistress and â€Å"The Flea† are very similar in context and purpose. They are metaphysical poems which reflect wit, obscure comparisons of objects and the reality of love and sex. The purpose of both poems was to get the speaker’s mistress to sleep with him, using strong imagery in an act of persuasion. The poems were written to entertain and would have been passed round the writer’s friends in order to amuse them. â€Å"Shall I compare thee† however, stood out because the writer chose a convention already in use. The purpose of this sonnet was to flatter his loved one and in an unexpected twist at the end, also himself. â€Å"Had we but world... ...ent awareness to the poet from the loving and affectionate one we once felt. He comes across proud and slightly arrogant about his work, and puts a different slant on what was once a conventional love poem. In conclusion I think the 17th day reaction would have been entertaining and funny and therefore quite different to the reaction I would expect now. People today would find the poetry quite shocking and distasteful and they would not be considered politically correct. â€Å"To His Coy Mistress† is successful because it is entertaining, wheras â€Å"The Flea† is successful because it’s fascinating and slightly confusing at times. â€Å"Shall I compare thee† however is totally different because it has departed from it and the overall result was very successful. The poet went from delighting the audience then to twisting their opinions of him keeping them entertained.