On "Time's Winged Chariot": Intertextuality of Time Allusions Between Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms" and Andrew Marvell's "To His Coy Mistress"

In "A farewell to Arms" Earnest Hemingway alludes to Andrew Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress." Intertextuality conveys the mood of a solidified time for the ill-fate of Fredrick Henry and Catherine Barkley's life together. Through the poem, the allusion of death and time helps the reader understand how rare and precious life is not only in the moment, but in the value eternity has for life. Henry quotes the poem as a median of emoting his worried feelings "to his coy mistress." Catherine recognizes the poem as "it's about a girl who wouldn't live with a man" (154). This is ironic because this the way Catherine is at the beginning of the book. The line "but at my back I always hear/ time's winged chariot hurrying near," (Marvell poem/Hemingway 154) spoken by Henry is significant because it foreshadows the short time that the couple has. Henry wants to get married so that Catherine can be an honest woman, but they keep putting off the wedding. This subject is at their back just like time is. Opportunity is determined by time but the tragedy is that they will never follow through with their plans because they don't fortune their time for the worth of their intentions. Marvell's poem works in several passages, but the one that caught my attention was the scene where Catherine dies. The second and third stanza are the highlighted features in Hemingway's book. Before Catherine goes into labor, the couple live in a time vault that is too surreal to continue. This is like the "deserts of vast eternity," (Marvell) because it shows that there is more than a plain of allotted time that confines love. After Catherine’s death, Henry compares her to a marble statue. In Marvell's poem, Henry alludes to this part: "thy beauty shall no more be found/nor, in thy marble vault, shall sound/my echoing song; then worms shall try/that long preserved virginity/and your quaint honor turn to dust/and into ashes all my lust/the grave's a fine and private place/but none I think do there embrace," (Marvell). He accepts that Catherine is dead, but her honor and her memory is not dead. Although he can't materialistically love her in her death, he will always love her because that is something that even death can't bring to the grave. There son also died and this part alludes to "thorough the iron gates of life/thus, though we cannot make our sun" (Marvell). Iron gates is a powerful connotation as it shows the strength of the "winged chariot." The pun, sun, refers to their child. Also, the sun will not rise any longer for Catherine and consequently, not for Henry either as it is night time when this occurs and on top of that, it is raining.

Geography and Symbolism

Geography is the compass which directs the reader's intuition toward a unique set of senses perceived from landscape. In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway strategically uses geography to portray change, security, prospect, and the balance of life and death through the elements of symbolism. Gorizia is a town in Italy where the ambulance unit is located. On his leave, Frederick Henry goes West to explore Milan and other lively towns. This is because he is searching for excitement, as West is symbolic for being full of adventure. When he comes back, he is sent East to Plava which is where he is injured by the trench shell. This symbolizes a new beginning and is the turning point of his realization of life. The East symbolizes this well because this is where the sun rises. Ironically, it is after this that he and Catherine Barkley conceive a son and their relationship becomes more genuine and intertwined. A good portion of Italy is covered with mountains. Mountains can represent the balance of life and death as they are tall, close to heaven, divine, and are steep. The altitude can give way to thin air which could resemble suffocation and death. On the other hand it is clean air which means life. Snow is commonly found and that can represent purity and equality as its color is white and it falls impartially on the ground. Also, both snow and the mountain is a representation of immortality. After the he recovers, he is sent West to Udine to retreat. Moving West is a symbol of peace as this where the sun sets and it is a retreat. Also West could mean that he is searching for prospect as it is like the gold rush. He is moving West to meet up with Catherine and that is his fortune. On the way there, Frederick falls in a body of water when he escapes from the police. This is not really a cleansing scene as he is in hiding, however it does “baptize” him into a new faith of thinking. He decides that he is through with the war. Later Catharine and Frederick move to Milan where he is informed that the police is looking for them. They travel North to Switzerland. North symbolizes security and solitude. Since Switzerland is neutral, there is no fighting and no police, so this is there security. They can live here happily, just the two of them. Until, that is, when the baby is born and it ends up that it is just Frederick in solitude of rain.