Mathematics

One theme that is critical to this poem — though it is quite rare in poetry — is mathematics. Marvell makes the image of two parallel lines into the central conceit of the poem’s conclusion. Parallel lines are any two lines which have the same slope but different origins. That means that they will run alongside each other, remaining exactly the same distance apart, forever — in the mathematical sense, lines have neither a beginning nor an end.

The power of this metaphor for the love story Marvell is trying to convey is clear: it is an image of two people who want to be together, who are connected in an abstract, transcendental sense, but who can never connect in the concrete way that they want to. Their love remains forever in the realm of theory and idea, and can never become part of reality.

This mathematical concept...