In the book The Twin Flame by Octavio Paz, three different categories of love that can arise between partners are described: sexuality, eroticism and love. The first category, sexuality, refers to the biological and instinctive need to reproduce, while eroticism describes the pleasure and desire of the sexual act to attraction to the person as a whole and includes an equal sharing of love between the body and the soul While Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" and William Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116" both pursue the theme of love, each poem describes a different type of love from the other. "To His Coy Mistress" seems to conform to Paz's second type of love, eroticism; however, "Sonnet 116" offers an alternative to all three types of Paz. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on 'Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned'? Get an Original Essay The speaker of Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress" desires a woman whom he attempts to persuade to sleep with him. For they will not live for eternity, the speaker argues, he and his mistress should "snatch [their] pleasures with bitter strife" (43) as soon as possible, while they still have the chance. The speaker's focus is on achievement of pleasure through relationship and not about producing offspring. Although the speaker states that if he had all the time in the world he would spend "thirty thousand" (16) years adoring every inch of her, perhaps he only says this to try to woo her so he can satisfy the his desire as quickly as possible. who doesn't have much time, so he can tell her without ever having to prove it. The speaker is not driven by a biological need to reproduce nor does he have an equal sharing of love between the body and the soul of his lovers; he is focused entirely on his body. The speaker only wants to indulge in bliss by having sexual intercourse, and avoid as soon as possible any possibility of his lust turning to ashes. For this reason, the speaker's love for his lover falls into Paz's second category, eroticism. Because in the first stanza of "To His Coy Mistress" the speaker focuses on the lover as a whole person, and not just on his pure erotic desire for her body, it is tempting to classify the poem in the third category of Paz, Love . The speaker declares that his “Vegetable Love” (11) would grow slowly and be “vaster than empires” (12) if he had more time. He insists that he will spend "at least an age on each part," (17) indicating that he will love her as a whole person, and will spend a generous amount of time doing so. However, the reader cannot be sure that the speaker is completely sincere, because he has no way to prove it. The speaker wants to engage “now, like lovely birds of prey” (38) in the relationship, and his aggressive tone indicates that he is becoming impatient. His impatience suggests that the speaker is eager to explore his lovers' bodies and is not interested in anything else. Furthermore, if he really wanted something more than just her body, he presumably would not have tried to frighten her with crude images ("then Worms will prove / that long-preserved virginity" [27-2])) into the idea that if not give up her virginity soon, if not immediately, she could die a virgin. Since the speaker is unwilling to wait and let his love for his lover develop before engaging in the sexual act, and is only interested in ensuring that his lust does not turn to ashes, his love is purely eroticism . While Marvell Coy's "To His Mistress" illustrates Paz's concept of eroticism, Shakespeare's "Sonnet 116" does not fit into any of Paz's three categories. The speaker describes a, 2002. 1092.