'Had we but world enough and time,/This coyness, lady, were no crime./We could sit down…' No, I can't, really. I mean, I could a little while ago. 'But at my back I always hear/Time's winged chariot drawing near;/And yonder, all before of us lie/Deserts of vast eternity./…/The grave's a fine and private place,/But none, I think, do there embrace'. It's a wonderful poem. I love it. And I loved The Garden one, too. 'Stumbling on melons.'

[Q] Is To His Coy Mistress, is it an argument that would succeed with a… a reluctant girl, do you think?

Oh yes. I mean, I hardly needed urging. I'd quite decided while I was at school that I was going to be seduced as soon as possible. I did the minimum amount of work and went to about three lectures and decided, 'Oh well, why bother to go to their lectures when one can read their books?' And then never did read their books.