Final answer:
The poem 'To His Coy Mistress' uses Biblical allusions to express the speaker's deep and long-lasting love, referring to events such as the great flood and the conversion of the Jews, to suggest a love that is both ancient and eternal.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the poem To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell, there are significant Biblical allusions used to express the longevity of the speaker's love. One clear allusion is to the great flood from the Book of Genesis, when the speaker mentions he would have loved his mistress 'ten years before the flood.' This reference to a cataclysmic event in the distant past suggests a love that predates even ancient history. Another allusion can be found in the line 'Till the conversion of the Jews,' which points to religious prophecies concerning the end of the world. This suggests his willingness to wait for her even until what is thought of as an unimaginably distant event. Such allusions heighten the hyperbolic declaration of the speaker's boundless love and the urgency with which he wants her to reciprocate.