There are two sides to every story. Where one sees love and passion, the other sees burden and indifference. Such is the case with Peter de Vries' "To His Importunate Mistress," a comic parody of Andrew Marvell's 17th-century work, "To His Coy Mistress." Peter de Vries uses satire and rhyme to present a humorous approach to the reality and consequences of a modern-day extramarital affair. Although poetry is a literary art that touches on many dark subjects, some feel that humor and deep thought reside on opposite ends of the spectrum. In fact, using humor can open the door to a new perspective, while still maintaining depth and meaning. With “To his importunate mistress”, the narrator achieves this by separating the concepts and finding their opposite meaning; divide words, gender and symbols. While the subject parodied is a dark love story, Peter de Vries presents the story of adultery with less merit. The opposing view begins with the title and sets the tone by replacing the word shy with obtrusive. When we read the word shy, it's syn...