The Poetical Works of Andrew Marvell: With a Memoir of the Author

"To His Coy Mistress" is a metaphysical poem written by the English author Andrew Marvell (1621–1678). It is considered one of Marvell's finest and is possibly the best recognised carpe diem poem in English. It was written during or just before the English Interregnum (1649–1660)—perhaps in the early 1650s when Marvell was serving as a tutor to the daughter of the retired commander of the New Model Army, Sir Thomas Fairfax—and published posthumously in 1681.