In the poem "A Dialogue Between the Soul and Body" by Andrew Marvell, an argument is presented between the incorporeal and material world; additionally, the relationships between the various powers of the mind are examined. Within the dialogue, the soul represents the cognizant force which wishes to leave the confines and subsequent conventions and barbarisms of a material host, while the body is discontent to suffer the emotional traumas which the soul causes it to undergo, wishing rather to exist in a more natural state.

The first speaker, the soul, begins it's lamentation by comparing the body to a dungeon which binds the soul in as many ways as possible. While the bones of the body are likened to restraining bolts, the feet interestingly becoming fetters themselves, while in reality fetters are controlling chains used to secure feet together so that the prisoner can not run away; the soul carries this idea of chains to the hands, referring to them as manacles. This set of thoughts shows that the soul thinks the devices which usually constrain the body are in fact made out of the body itself. Next, the soul complains about the senses which typically aid the body in daily functions, stating that eyes blind and ears deafen the soul by distracting it from ethereal thoughts with spectacles and sounds from the outside world. The soul then returns to the previous concept of chains, saying that it is "hung up" in nerves, arteries, and veins, the very things which keep the body alive. This torture continues as the soul realizes that more parts of the body are against it, with the head being too preoccupied with the material world to care about the concerns of the soul and the heart merely existing to pump blood instead of becoming enraptured with the stirring passions felt by the soul.

The body responds to the complaints of the soul by asking for delivery, from enslavement according to the body's perspective, and by calling the soul a tyrant. This dictatorship causes the body to walk erect, propelling it into danger from falling with every step it takes when it would rather lie dormant; furthermore, the overlord called the soul animates the body, moving it around and keeping it warm as the body complains that a common fever could do the same thing, and, hence, there is no difference between sickness and the emotions of the soul. The body then disparages that the soul can not always move the body and force it to actively engage with the real world, so therefore it gives the body self-awareness along with the awful knowledge that the body will someday die; the body, while it is alive, can never rest as long as it is possessed by the soul or "ill spirit", likening the inhabitation of the soul in the body to magical possession.

This magical possession of which the body complains leads the soul to establish a similar grievance that the same kind of magic imprisons it within the body, forcing it to suffer with the body as it grieves. As the body complains, the soul is coerced into feeling the pains the body feels; this is unusual, for the soul is incorporeal and should not feel any physical strife, yet it does due to its intimate association with the body. The body then uses the soul's care to preserve itself from the pain, which in turn weakens and eventually destroys the soul; not only must the trapped soul be tortured as the body is racked by disease, but it must also endure the restoration of the body throughout the cure. The soul is angered at the healing and feels that the sickness of the body will lead it to the port of death, thus freeing the soul from material constraints, but instead finds itself shipwrecked, forlorn and alone, into health, which is beneficial to the body but detrimental to the soul.

The body then seizes upon the concept of malady and protests that medicine could never cure the ailments that the soul teaches to the body. Although the body recognizes physical pains and accepts them, it does not wish to deal with the mental anguish that the soul forces it to endure. The body, as it exists within the physical realm, relates hope to a tearing cramp that incapacitates it after which follows shudder after uncontrollable shudder of fear. Love becomes a pestilence which heats the body too much, and hate stealthily eats away at the body like an ulcer. Even joy, a typically good feeling, turns into an insanity that confuses the body, and the insanity of sorrow enrages the body. These feelings are forced upon the body for it to experience, while the soul does not allow it to forget the unpleasant memories. The body sees the soul as a cruel prankster which nurtures it, allowing the body to have a full spectrum of urges and the ability to act upon them, yet imposing it with a conscience, thereby hampering typically easy decisions about natural bodily functions. The body finishes the argument by stating that the soul molds the body into things which it either is not or should not naturally be; much like architects who interfere with the natural life of a living, unexperienced tree to fashion it into unnatural dwellings in which to house themselves, so does the soul attempt to alter the body without respect or regard to it's life, wishes, and desires.

While "A Dialogue Between the Soul and Body" initially appears as a swapping of complaints between a physical and a spiritual entity, it is important to note that the sentient soul and the dispassionate body are simply restating the same argument from their respective perspectives. Although the soul and the body desire freedom from each other, they fail to realize that they need each other to exist and in their complementation form one vital being. In letting them debate against one another, Marvell has shown the inexorable link between body and soul and proves that there should exist a true dialogue between them rather than a constant debate which would serve to obstruct the joining of body and soul into a complete, organized, and passionate creature.