Theme of "Porphyria's Lover," & "To His Coy Mistress

"Porphyria's Lover" portrays a theme of what love can do to a person. The man portrayed in the story seems to be insane. The two characters were in love and the man didn't want the love to ever end so he killed her, hoping it would last. Another theme is dominance. Usually it is male dominance, but in this poem the woman is dominant. It says that "she shut the cold out and the storm." Then at the end the man reverses the dominance, he kills her, and now he is in control.

“To His Coy Mistress” portrays a theme of time, the essence of time. Time reoccurs throughout the poem and is mentioned by the speaker of the poem multiple times. He is bothered by time and sees it as out to get him. The speaker refers to “carpe diem” or “seize the day.” The speaker is afraid that they are going to run out of time so he wants to make the most of that day and not put it off until tomorrow. He is trying to use this “carpe diem” on a woman he has sexual affections towards. He continues to persuade her throughout the poem to have sex before time runs out, but she is playing hard to get and will not give into his begging. The speaker eventually settles down at the end and realizes that he cannot be afraid of time.

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” portrays a theme of death. No one can escape death and the speaker mournfully realizes this throughout the poem. He so wishes that the young deaths could be alive and well, making happy memories. Although these deaths are inevitable, people leave behind a beauty about them, something of permanence. In the poem the speaker says, “When old age shall this generation waste, thou shall remain, in midst of other woe.”