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Had we but world enough, and time, / This coyness, Lady, were no crime

  1. The first lines of “To His Coy Mistress,” a poem by the seventeenth-century English poet Andrew Marvell. The poet tells a woman whom he loves that if they had endless time and space at their disposal, then he could accept her unwillingness to go to bed with him. Life is short, however, and opportunities must be seized.



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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Had we but world enough and time, This coyness, lady, were no crime.

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Had we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime.

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To His Coy Mistress HAD we but world enough, and time, This coyness, Lady, were no crime We would sit down and think which way To walk and pass our long love's day.

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